discipleship

Session 22 | Glorified

In our last session for Phase 1, we consider the final reality of what it means to be set apart as holy for God's service. We also consider the reality of our present and future glorification by God. One of the most incredible statements that is made about us in the New Testament is that we will one day "share the glory of our Lord Jesus."

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Session 21 | Temple and Priesthood

In Christ, we are both God's New Temple and New Priesthood. We consider how we Gentiles have now been "brought near" by the blood of Christ to share in the blessings that God promised through Israel, promises that would eventually be fulfilled in the establishment of a Kingdom OF Priests and not merely a Kingdom WITH Priests.

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Session 20 | Q&A

This week is a Q&A session. We complete the section on calling and sanctification and deal with various questions on various topics throughout the class.

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Session 19 | Called to be Holy

We have been called by God to be His holy people. This means that all those who have a relationship with God in Christ are saints. This is not a title that is reserved for "super christians" in the Bible; it is a title that is given even to God's weakest and most immature children. Once we understand our Holy Heavenly Father's great expectations for us, we should be encouraged and empowered to live as His "set apart" and unique people.

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Session 18 | Reconciled

For all who are in Christ, we now have peace with God. Through the self sacrifice and pouring out of His own blood Jesus has reconciled us to God. This blessing flows out of justification, is a result of propitiation and is finalized in glorification. To be at peace with God does not merely mean that we are no longer in a hostile relationship with God, it also means that we are now in a relationship where His blessing and grace is available to live life in a whole new way.

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Session 17 | Justified

When we trusted Christ, God declared that we had done what was right and therefore established a right relationship with us. Because of Jesus' faithful work for us, God is now able to accept us on the basis of faith - trusting Christ - and not on the basis of what we do. God has declared that we have done the right thing, in the right way, at the right time, with the right motives when we trusted Christ and this places us in right relationship with Him.

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Session 16 | Delivered

This week we discuss the reality that in Christ, we have been delivered from the Dominion of Darkness to the Kingdom of the Beloved Son. Jesus is also our deliverer from God's wrath - present and future.
**Unfortunately the recorder malfunctioned and we did not get this week's lecture. We will post a substitute as soon as possible.

Session 15 | Children of God

There is no greater title that we could be given other than "Children of God." In Christ, we have been both reborn and adopted into God's eternal family. Living in the power that God provides through our faith, we come to realize that being part of His family means that we are eternally secure in His care.

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Session 14 | Redeemed

This week we consider the great blessing of our redemption in Christ and the forgiveness of our sins. At the price of His own blood, Jesus has paid a price to set us free from all that would enslave us in this world.

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Session 13 | Chosen and Predestined

In Christ we have been chosen to be holy and blameless and our Father has predetermined that we would reach two major destinations in our journey: 1) that we would be adopted in Christ and 2) that we will be conformed to Christ's image. With a new origin and destiny determined by God we can have hope and security as we realize that we are completely in our Heavenly Father's loving care.

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Session 12 | Blessed, Redeemed, Sealed

In Christ, we have been blessed by the Father, redeemed by the Son and sealed by the Holy Spirit. In this session we consider how God the Father working in Christ through the Holy Spirit has worked in the past, is working in the present and will work in the future to complete our salvation. Because of this, we can have hope and be secure in our ongoing process of transformation into Christlikeness.

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Session 11 | What Are Three Things We Need to Know?

This week, we begin a new unit in our MTM studies in which we consider how our relationship with God in Christ and the blessings that they give change our identity, character, and position. We begin by cultivating our "spiritual vision" - seeing things the way that God sees them. We explore the three foundational things that Paul prays for us to know: 1) the hope of God's calling, 2) the wealth of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and 3) the incomparable greatness of His power that has been shown towards us who believe.

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Session 10 | What are the False Gospels?

There are many false teachings that are presented as the "true" Gospel. In every case, these messages bring slavery rather than freedom by either taking something away from the One True Gospel or adding something to it. The One True Gospel brings joy and power. We need to be aware that these other messages seek to steal the joy and kill the power of the One True Gospel.

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Session 09 | Why is Faith First and Last?

This week we begin to explore the many ways the one true Gospel which is to be received by faith is twisted to become a false and powerless gospel. The first step in understanding the power of the Gospel is to understand how we are to respond to it - by faith. Faith is our ultimate commitment to God based on our ultimate confidence in Him. For this reason our right relationship with God our Father in Christ is begun faith, sustained by faith, and will be completed by faith.

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Session 08 | How Do We Respond?

The powerful message of the Gospel requires a response. When the message of truth, the word of our salvation, comes to us, it brings with it the power to open our hears, enlighten our hearts and enable our minds to say "yes" to God's great gift of salvation. God the Father desires that everyone return to Him to receive true and eternal life with Him in His one unique Son Jesus.

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Session 07 | What Did God Do Part 2

For six hours, Jesus hung on the Cross. What happened during those hours? How is that in His suffering, death and resurrection Jesus became our Savior. Whereas Adam brought sin, condemnation and death into the human experience, Jesus has brought righteousness, peace and life. We explore these truths in this week's session.

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Session 06 | What Did God Do About Our Rebellion?

After seeing how the choices of Adam brought sin, death and condemnation to all of us, we now turn to explore what God has done about our fallen predicatment. When Jesus comes into the world, He comes as the sinless one who will save us from our sins. As Adam, Jesus is tested and responds in faith to God and thereby is qualified to save all of us who are born spiritually dead in Adam.

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Session 05 | What Went Wrong?

God created all things and prounced that it was all very good. So what went wrong? With all the pain, suffering and chaos in our world we might assume that this is just the way things are. The Bible explains that our world is what it is because of the choices that were made in the beginning. This week we explore the rebellion and fall of Adam at the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden so that we can see and understand the submission and victory of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the Tree of Death - the Cross.

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Session 04 | How Did God Equip Us to Function?

This week we explore both our physical and spiritual design as human beings. Understanding who we are and how God has designed us is foundational to understanding both how God works in our hearts and minds and also how we function given the circumstances of our lives.

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Session 03 | Why Did God Create Us?

This week we explore the question, "Why did God create us?" in more depth. In short, God created us out of His desire to share His love and glory with others. We were created to experience God's love and glory so that we would be able to express it in the same way that He does. This leads inevitably to the next question, "What went wrong?"

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Session 02 | What's THE Story?

Life comes to us as story. The Bible tells THE Story that enbables us to answer our basic questions about life: Why are we here? Where did we come from? Where are we heading? Contrary to the "alternative stories" that are forced upon us by our culture, THE True Story reveals that we are here for a purpose and we have a future. In our quest to know and to be known, the Author of our story has revealed Himself as the satisfaction of our restless souls.

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