"What Do We Believe?"
A Sermon Series Through Our Recent
Confession of Faith Revision
Part 1 - "Trinity: The Holy Being of God"
11/10/2013 - Chad Skaran There is one, and can be only one, living and true God, Who is eternal, self-existing, almighty and unchanging Spirit, gloriously infinite in all perfections. He is a personal Being, and is the Creator, Ruler, Upholder and Judge of all things. In the unity of the Godhead, there are three Persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—Who are co-existent and equal in every perfection. The Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father, yet each is truly and fully Divine. One God—Father, Son and Holy Spirit; executing distinct but harmonious roles in the great work of redemption—is the foundation of Christian faith and life. He is worthy of all reverence, love, confidence, and obedience—this worship being a reflection of His own full, triune joy in Himself.
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Part 2 - "Scripture: The Written Revelation of God"
11/17/2013 - Chad Skaran While God has shown something of Whom He is through the created order in general and human nature in particular, He has most completely revealed Himself to man through scripture—the 66 books of the Old and New Testaments. These were recorded as the Holy Spirit guided human authors so that the writings produced are fully and verbally inspired by God (“God-breathed”), infallible and inerrant in the original manuscripts and providentially preserved throughout history. Therefore, the Bible is a perfectly sufficient and solely authoritative wealth of divine wisdom that must not be added to, superseded or changed by any later tradition, extra-biblical revelation or worldly idea; and, every doctrinal formulation—creed, confession or theology—must be put to the test of this full counsel of God. All scripture speaks with His life-giving power, the Holy Spirit testifying by it to salvation through Jesus Christ, Who is the focus of biblical revelation. It must be diligently studied and applied by all people for all of life.
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Part 3 - "Man: The Fallen Image-Bearer of God"
12/1/2013 - Chad Skaran God directly brought all of creation into being out of nothing for His own glory, personally and perfectly forming the entire universe in six days as Genesis describes. He uniquely made man—male and female—in His own likeness, appointing him to rule over all the earth in joyful service to his Creator. But tempted by Satan, Adam voluntarily rebelled against God, falling from his original perfection and passing on to all his descendants a sinful nature that corrupts the entire being. Estranged from his Maker yet responsible to Him, man became subject to divine wrath, utterly unable to remedy his condemned condition of slavery to sin and Satan apart from a divine work of grace. Under the dominion of fallen man, the earth itself was likewise given over to disorder, corruption, pain, and death. Despite his fallen condition, however, man maintains something of the image of God; therefore, each individual equally possesses dignity and value, and is worthy of respect and Christian love.
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Part 4 - "The Father: The Providential First Person
of God" - 12/8/2013 - Chad Skaran While the Son and the Holy Spirit fully share in God's sovereignty over all of creation, scripture describes the Father as the Initiator of the divine work of redemption. From eternity, He either decrees or permits all things that come to pass, powerfully and perpetually upholding, directing, and governing all creatures and all events, while doing so in such a way as to never author or approve sin, or destroy the free agency or responsibility of moral creatures. In this, He often uses natural causes, faithfully fulfills His every promise, perfectly works all things together for good for those who love Him, and graciously gave His Son for mankind’s salvation. His work also includes election, which is His eternal choice of some persons unto everlasting life—not because of any foreseen merit in them, but His own mercy in Christ—in consequence of which choice they are called, justified, sanctified, and glorified. He is fatherly in His attitude toward all men, and is Father in spirit and truth to those who are born again.
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Part 5 - "Satan: The Terrible Archenemy of God"
12/15/2013 - Chad Skaran Many mighty and intelligent spiritual beings, commonly known as "angels," are part of God's creation, made to glorify and serve Him in various ways including appointments to watch over and minister to His people. At some time in the past, a large number of angels under the leadership of one known as Satan ("Adversary") rebelled against God and were removed from His presence. Also often called the Devil ("Slanderer"), Satan is a real personal being with great power, cunning, and influence whose chief tactics include deception and temptation. He and his forces now roam the universe and are especially active on the earth, opposing God's purposes and His people, and ruling over the spiritual darkness of this world. This reality compels believers to the utmost vigilance against sin, humility toward God, and compassion for the lost. Though formidable, Satan and his angels are already defeated in Christ, destined to be judged by Him at His return and to finally be incarcerated eternally in the lake of fire.
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Part 6 - "Jesus Christ: The Appointed Mediator Between Man and God" - 12/29/2013 - Chad Skaran
While God the Son exists eternally and has been active in the divine work from the beginning, scripture centers on the accomplishments of His incarnation. Sent by the Father and supernaturally conceived by a work of the Holy Spirit to humbly take on flesh by being born of a virgin, the Son became fully Man while remaining fully God and without sin. Given the name Jesus, He grew and lived as any other human, but was uniquely perfect in nature and teaching and unmatched in authority—the exact Image of the invisible God, ultimate Prophet, and Christ. Facing all the demands and needs of mankind, Jesus alone faithfully upheld every responsibility of man before God and personally obeyed all the Father’s will, honoring and fulfilling the Law in its entirety. At the divinely appointed time, He was delivered over to suffer and die at the hands of men, revealing divine love and upholding divine justice as He was crushed by God in the place of sinners to make possible their reconciliation. Having then been buried, Jesus was physically raised on the third day in powerful testimony to the sufficiency of His atoning sacrifice and the certainty of His people’s future resurrection. Victorious over death and the powers of darkness, He soon ascended to Heaven where He rules as Lord and King, intercedes as High Priest of His people, and prepares for His own imminent, personal, visible return to earth to rapture His Church and bring judgment on His enemies.
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Part 7 - "Repentance and Faith: Man's Imperative
Response to God" - 1/5/2014 - Chad Skaran Being corrupted by sin, at enmity with God, and subject to His eternal judgment, each person has the primary and pressing duty to respond to God’s work in Christ with humble repentance and faith. Repentance is a “change of mind” that involves a sincere conviction of the terrible evil of one’s own sin against God, bringing him to personal sorrow over sin, deep detestation of its presence, and active resolve in fighting against it. Faith is a conscious belief, on God’s authority, of whatever is revealed in His Word concerning Jesus Christ, resting upon His merits alone as Savior and committing the whole self to Him as Lord. This faith alone secures justification before God—the full pardoning of one’s sin as Christ’s perfect righteousness is credited to him, bringing peace and favor with God and the promise of eternal life in His glorious presence. Nothing prevents such forgiveness of even the vilest sinner on earth but his own inherent depravity and failure to repent and believe; therefore, the gospel must be sincerely and urgently proclaimed to all people of all nations, seeking to secure their voluntary obedience to it. Finally, since repentance and faith are inseparable experiences of grace worked out in a person by the regenerating Spirit of God, they will certainly remain together in one who is truly converted, impelling a life of change into Christlikeness and of joyful service to Him.
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Part 8 - "The Holy Spirit: The Life-Giving Witness
from God" - 1/12/14 - Chad Skaran Eternally equal in divine nature with the Father and the Son, and having been active in Creation, the Holy Spirit primarily bears witness to salvation in Jesus Christ. From Old Testament days, He worked out the inspiration of Christ-centered Scripture, and also illuminates the minds of God's people to meaningfully comprehend its truth. He is also the Agent of regeneration--a change of heart worked out in connection with the proclamation of the gospel that gives life to those previously dead in trespasses and sins, enlightening their minds spiritually and savingly to understand the Word of God and renewing their whole nature so that they love and practice holiness. This instantaneous new birth is the beginning of sanctification--the ongoing experience by which the believer is set apart to God’s purposes, enabled to progress toward Christlike moral and spiritual maturity through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in him. Theologically distinct from His "filling," this indwelling seals the believer until the day of final redemption, as the Spirit of Adoption guarantees his inheritance in Christ. Finally, the Spirit also bestows various spiritual gifts to all believers, by which they serve God through His church so that it grows in maturity as the body of Christ.
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Part 9a - "The Church Universal: The Set Apart
People of God" - 1/19/2014 - Chad Skaran |
Part 9b - "The Church Universal: The Set Apart
People of God" - 1/26/2014 - Chad Skaran |
The joyful worship of God among all nations has always been His ultimate purpose, and while earlier scripture focused on His work toward this end in and through national Israel, it also always anticipated a multi-ethnic and exclusively regenerated people of God. In fulfillment of this, Christ has promised and is now faithfully working to build His Church—a Temple of living stones founded on Himself, a real spiritual Body over which He is Head and of which all truly converted people are members. Growing as sinful persons throughout the world are called out of sin into the fellowship of the gospel, and as they then actively exercise their Spirit-given gifts toward mutual Christian maturity, the Church exists to love, honor, and glorify her holy triune God now and for eternity. This includes the present and pressing commission to proclaim the gospel to every tribe, tongue, and people, striving to make many more born-again disciples of Jesus Christ. All who so come to Him in repentance and faith are then to be immersed in water as a sign of the remission of their sins, of their union with His death and resurrection, and of their commitment to walk in newness of life. This physical baptism brings no one into the Church, but was rather ordained by Jesus as a vital testimony to the spiritual realities of salvation.
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Part 10a - "The Church Local: An Ordered Assembly
under God" - 2/2/2014 - Chad Skaran Upon their conversion and subsequent baptism, redeemed men and women are then to be added to the membership of a local church, visibly and vitally associated by covenant in the faith and fellowship of the gospel. In this context, instituted by and ordered under Christ, they walk through life together as children of God and citizens of Heaven, demonstrating the reality of His kingdom and anticipating its fulfillment. Each church must therefore be committed to the regular preaching and teaching of scripture, the diligent exercise of prayer and spiritual gifts, the loving administration of discipline, and the careful observance of the two ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper. All of this is to take place under the oversight of pastors (elders, bishops)—exemplary, competent men appointed to serve and care for that church in cooperation with well-qualified deacons, who work to free them for devotion to prayer and the ministry of the Word. Essential as all of this is, however, local church discipleship must never replace or supersede any individual’s personal walk with God; rather, it should serve to encourage and guide personal devotion, which will in turn aid the growth of the church. Finally, while partnership between faithful congregations is healthy, and while believers are to conscientiously honor all civil authorities unless commanded to sin, each church is also both free and responsible to live firstly under the lordship of Jesus Christ, apart from official state sanction or religious hierarchy.
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Part 10b - "The Church Local: An Ordered Assembly
under God" - 2/9/2014 - Chad Skaran
Part 10c - "The Church Local: An Ordered Assembly under God" - 2/16/2014 - Chad Skaran
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Part 11a - "Consummation: The Reborn Creation
of God" - 2/23/2014 - Chad Skaran |
Part 11b - "Consummation: The Reborn Creation
of God" - 3/2/2014 - Chad Skaran |
In His own perfect way and time, God will bring the world to its appropriate end, which is drawing ever nearer. This consummation of all things will include: the physical, visible, personal, and glorious return of Jesus Christ; the resurrection of the dead and the translation of those alive
in Him; the judgment of the just and the unjust; and the fulfillment of Christ’s kingdom in the new heavens and new earth. Satan—with his hosts and all those outside of Christ—will be finally separated from the benevolent presence of God into eternal, conscious punishment. Conversely, the righteous—in glorious bodies—will live and reign with Christ forever, serving Him and giving Him unending praise and glory. The eager expectation of a once-cursed creation will have been fulfilled, and the whole earth will proclaim the glory of God, Who makes all things new. In joyful anticipation of these things, and as a symbolic commemoration of His singular and sufficient atoning sacrifice that makes them possible, the Lord’s Supper is designated by Christ for believers for their mutual encouragement and growth, and is to be repeatedly celebrated by churches using bread and the fruit of the vine until His return.
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