As religious Jewish forces work to "undo" Christianity in this time period, Paul (a man who was once one of them), who encountered the risen Christ personally, now understands Christ's role in God's plan until the end of the age without contradicting the Law and Old Testament, and is guided by the Holy Spirit, now zeroes in on the theology that the Jews are using to justify their perceived "merit" with God as a people. Here Paul tries to set up a template to explain the Law and explain God's grace through the most commonly accepted account of the Hebrew Bible; the promise given by Abraham. Here, Paul illustrates how Abraham and Sarah's lack of faith bore Ishmael and how faith bore Isaac. That said, Paul uses that scenario to illustrate how believing in one's own religiosity is like going the route of Ishmael, but believing in Jesus is like believing in Isaac. In this theologically heavy message, Pastor Troy Billow explains in an easy to understand way, how Paul is trying to use Abraham and Sarah's situation to birth children of the promise to explain how Christ will carry that promise through in full as everyone who receives Him through faith are included as children of that promise first given to Abraham.
In historical context, Jewish religious forces are trying to "undo" the newfound faith of the early Christians, and Paul, a former member of that religious force due to his personal experience with Jesus, is receiving blowback anger, and outright hostility from them as he evangelizes to those who haven't heard, and inspires those who are believers into keeping their new foundation firm. Here, Paul states "Here I become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?" (vs.16) In this message, Pastor Troy expounds on the great lengths that Paul went through and endured to tell people the truth. These intense efforts to simply bring the truth speaks volumes to the truth itself.
In the previous message, we learned about the meaning of Baptism. In this message, we will learn why Baptism is so significant.What does it mean to be baptized with Christ? Once your body is submerged in water, how does that symbolize death? And when you're raised back up, how does that serve as a precursor to being raised from the dead and being alive in Christ? All of these concepts will be explained by Pastor Troy Billow, as four congregants answer the call, and prepare to be baptized immediately following the service.
An Ethiopian eunuch, reading the prophet Isaiah stops his chariot and asks Philip to reveal the man they are speaking of in Isaiah 53. Philip tells the eunuch that the man spoken of in that prophecy is Jesus. Upon discussing Christ further, the Ethiopian eunuch shows interest in being baptized, and so Philip baptizes him. Baptism was commanded by Jesus to serve as a symbol to show (and thus profess by action) that you believe that He died, was buried, and rose from the dead. In one of two messages on the subject of baptism, Pastor Troy Billow explains why it is important for believers to be baptized, as Living Faith Church prepares for Baptism Sunday, in which congregants who want to be baptized, will.
"How Should the Church Respond to the Changing Culture...?" Kingdom Warriors Night of Truth Event By Pastor Bryan Revor
It's very common for Christians to hate the culture that we are now living in. After all, scripture states that as we move further and further into the last days, people will grow from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived (II Timothy 3:13). However, regardless of where the culture moves, God still loves people with a love so great, so deep, and so wide, that we cannot comprehend it. And God wants people to come to Him, so He can change people from within. God is a people person, and He is more concerned with changing people's hearts individually than He is about changing the culture. In this message, Pastor Bryan Revor teaches on how to engage the culture (including some of the more controversial segments of it) with grace, by looking at the model Jesus set for the seven Churches in the Book of Revelation.
Kingdom Warriors Night of Truth Event "Do Not Lose Heart" By Special Guest Pastor Joel Gilbert
Are you experiencing a crisis of faith? Are you finding it more difficult to pursue and maintain victory over the world, the flesh, and the Devil? In this message, Pastor Joel Gilbert from Redeemer Church in DeMotte Indiana exhorts you not to "lose heart" and explains how we can trust Jesus during trials, times of testing, & persecution in these increasingly dark, heavy, and prophetic times.
Paul takes the theology of being incorporated into the family of God further by explaining that we are adopted as Christ's sons. What does this mean? One day, EVERYONE will bow down before the throne and acknowledge Jesus for who He is. It doesn't matter who you are, how educated or uneducated you are, what your stature is on this earth, none of that will matter. How you respond to Christ's invitation to you will be the main thing that you will be judged by. If you reject that invitation, or push it to the side and you die, you will be judged by the Law of Moses. If you accept that invitation, and you die, you will continue your life in the presence of God. Why is that? Upon trusting Jesus, you are no longer a slave to sin, darkness, depression, death, and hell, but a son. Pastor Troy explains how we were bought from a "slave market" and made heirs to His Kingdom. That said, we have been incorporated into God's family of Faith.
When Jesus and Paul talked to fellow Jews about the Kingdom of God and the Gospel message, many had the inclination that they were "justified" by their religious status, earning merit with God along with the fact that they were a part of Abraham's Seed. Here Paul clarifies that to be part of "Abraham's Seed" one has to do the will of the Father and receive Christ. Jesus transforms the qualifications to getting right with God from the Old Testament standard to the New, which is trusting in Him through faith. When you do this, you get "grafted" on to the "family tree" and from that standpoint there is no "Jew or Gentile", but all is one in Christ Jesus. Also this week, join us as we say farewell to "As One" singer, announcer, and council leader, Virginia Beehn who is opening a new chapter in her life.
The Law serves a very critical purpose for us and the fate of our eternal state. It tells us where we are standing in God's eyes daily. The Ten Commandments serve as a foundation for the Gospel of the cross. What does that mean? The Law/The Ten Commandments was created to make us aware of our transgressions (violations, trespasses against the order & boundaries set by God), and where we fall short. We all fall short of fulfilling some of these commandments in our lives at least at some point, and no one is righteous when evaluated by the Law. Since Jesus fulfilled the Law in full without violating any of it, the Gospel (the Good News) is that we can do something about it, and that something is trust in Jesus. The Law shines light on the bad we've done. The Gospel provides a way to erase that bad, and allow Christ's blood at the cross to erase that. That's what "Jesus died for your sins" means. Paul expounds on this in detail, as Pastor Troy Billow explains.
Title: The Body Is Not One Member But Many (I Corinthians 12:12-26)
To coincide with the commemoration of a group of congregants making a commitment to become members of LFCC, and the celebration of Sunday school graduates taking the next step to serve in the Church, Pastor Troy Billow explains the importance of becoming a member by expounding on Paul's analogy of the parts of the body in I Corinthians 12:12-26. The body of Christ is a group of people serving as one to present Christ to the world. Paul uses the analogy of the hands, the feet, the eyes, ears, and so forth to build a picture of where people's specialties lie in terms of talents & commitments to service, and how important and unique every form of service is as we present Christ to the world. This message will reveal how important it is, from Paul's perspective to now (which is still being practiced), how commited people with various talents and specialties, all work together to complete one purpose as a body, and that is to show Christ in action through the acts of service.