Jesus said that the Father has life in Himself. He added that the Father has given to the Son to have life in Himself (John 5:26). And you must see what a grave mistake it would be to say, “And, yes, the Father has also granted me to have life in myself. Amen and amen.” No, no amen to that. The Father has not granted you to have life in yourself. He has granted you to have life. But that life is found in Him. It is His liveliness that is your life.

The great temptation that lurks in the marshlands, that temptation that would suck you down and snuff out your life, is the temptation to live apart from God. It is the temptation to go about your coaching, teaching, summering, purchasing, cooking, exercising, and all of your other ings in the same exact way unbelievers do. This can be tricky. Unbelievers coach, and teach, and summer, and purchase. You are doing the same activities, after all. But you must do them as what you are, which is one who has been brought into the life of the fully-alive Trinity.

If you attempt to go about your living severed from Him, you will have as much sweetness and flavor as one of those molded blueberries at the bottom of the container you forgot was in the back of the refridgerator. God has brought you into the bond of His covenant, and in that covenant He has given you life, a big wide world, an array of gifts and good works to enjoy. So resolve to never live outside of that bond of the covenant. The life you live, you live by faith. The life you enjoy is the life of the Trinity, which never grows old or stale.

Jared Longshore – May 26, 2024

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We believe in the God of the Bible, the Author of our salvation. Which means we believe in a Trinitarian God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We confess, with the ancient Church in our creeds, that “we worship one God in Trinity, and Trinity in unity.”

The doctrine of the Trinity is foundational to our faith, and yet often when we think about it or try to explain it, we are prone to shy away. This is because we know there is high theology here, and with that comes deep cliffs of heresy. There are big theological words like essence, substance, subsistence, persons, filiation, spiration… shouldn’t we leave this to the experts? But my encouragement this morning is because of the deep mystery here, you are to lean in all the more. Yes, you must do so with precision, with the help of Scripture and the creeds, but you absolutely should learn to embrace the Trinity with simple joy.

One reason for this is that your salvation is tied up in the doctrine of the Trinity, in the undivided work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In fact, His salvific work in history is how He has revealed this doctrine to His people. God the Father so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, and the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Spirit who was also given to us (Jn. 3:16, Rom. 5:5). Salvation is nothing more than being united to the Triune God. You are made partakers of His divine nature and are given access to this great mystery, to God Himself. 

Can your finite minds fully comprehend what it means to believe in one God in three Persons? No, for we are talking about the infinite God in Himself. Should that then dissuade you from contemplating Him? Consider these words from C.S. Lewis, “You may ask, ‘If we cannot imagine a three-personal Being, what is the good of talking about Him?’ Well, there isn’t any good talking about Him. The thing that matters is being actually drawn into that three-personal life, and that may begin any time…”

So the exhortation is this: Confess this great mystery. Believe in the holy Trinity. Pray to the Father, in the name of the Son, in the power of the Holy Spirit. And simply love your Triune God, in whose name you have been baptized, who has made you His.

Shawn Paterson – May 26, 2024

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When it comes to the Christian arsenal, it is tempting to view prayer as a lesser weapon. Meaning we know it’s there and available but it’s not our first option. I mean why use the nerf gun of prayer when we have the bazooka of Christian hospitality? Hospitality is necessary, don’t misunderstand me, but we ought to view prayer as a powerful weapon. In Col 4:12 Paul describes prayer as “wrestling”, the word he uses here is associated with battle, war and agonizing effort. In other words, when you pray for your spouse, you aren’t merely sending good vibes, you are stepping into the arena and taking a flaming sword to the knees of powers and principalities. When you pray for your kids you aren’t merely diversifying your parenting portfolio, you are surrounding them with impenetrable walls. Like Jacob, when we pray we go to the mat with God Himself and fight for a blessing. With this in mind, to neglect your prayer life is nothing more than surrender. To neglect your prayer life is a refusal to engage the enemy and a failure to commune with God. It’s for this reason that it is important to prioritize prayer both personally and in our families. It’s been said that too much of a good thing is a bad thing, well not with prayer, the apostle tells us that we should “pray without ceasing.” So when someone tells you that they’ve been praying for you, instead of our reaction being akin to receiving socks for Christmas, our reaction should be one of deep gratitude. Instead of offering prayer only in dire circumstances, we should seek to offer prayers up for all people at all times knowing that the prayers of a righteous man availeth much. 

 Col 4:12 “Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. He is always wrestling for you in his prayers, so that you can stand mature and fully assured in everything God wills.“

Jeremiah Jasso – May 26, 2024

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What is your job here? What are you doing here in worship. First it is important to recognize that each one of us has a job. The congregation is not passive but is renewing covenant during worship. All audibly joins in responsive reading and song, all physically join at the supper, and all spiritually join in prayer. But what about during the sermon? The Pastor’s job is to proclaim the Word of God faithfully, week in and week out. The congregation is commanded to listen. “He who has ears, let him hear.” Matthew 13:9.

This is not a passive task. To be a good listener takes hard work. It takes active hard work. You are called to hear that truth and apply it to your hearts and lives. 

Now it is only by the power of the Spirit that men are converted, and without conversion the truth proclaimed will make no sense, it bounces off the forehead. Unconverted hearts cannot understand. Unconverted ears cannot hear. 

But conversion does not instantly make you a good listener. Your ears can now work, they are able to hear, but they need training. You will need to work at it. This takes time and faith. 

To listen well you must remove any hindrance. To remove spiritual hindrance we confess our sins at the beginning of the service. Holding on to sin in your life is like holding your hands over your ears. You refuse to hear. 

But there are other hindrances. It has been said that the mind can only absorb what the body can endure. And so, you must prepare your body for listening. This means getting good rest on Saturday night and getting up early enough to eat a good breakfast. We are given human bodies; we cannot ignore them. Emergencies arise, babies stay up all night, but you should be planning within your control to get the rest needed. And if you are tempted to sleep during the sermon, it might be a good week to sit in the front row. 

You can also prepare to listen by reading the sermon text. Pastor Josh has given us all heads up that we will be in Isaiah for the next few years, so there’s really no excuse. Get familiar with Isaiah and you will hear more each sermon. I especially encourage young parents to practice this. If you know you are going to miss half of the sermon due to faithfully taking care of your kids, it will be incredibly helpful to already have the context for the parts you get to hear.

And lastly pray for wisdom. God wants you to hear more clearly and to grow in truth. So as James says, pray without doubting. 

Zach Browning – May 26, 2024

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