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Pastor Mark (on vacation) gave Brian Seaman a sermon outline and Brian (a layman in our congregation) gave it some personal touches in this sermon for the 3rd Sunday in Epiphany. A nice job by both men, being a bold underline of God’s Word. Thank you, gentlemen!
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What is > The word that best describes the Christian life
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Thank you, Brian, and Pastor Mark.
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And thanks to flickr and ScottJon82, for the photo.
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Filed under: Brian Seaman, Sermon, The word that best describes the Christian life |
The Old Adam Lives! 
Hi Steve,
Honestly, even with my reading glasses 😉 , I couldn’t find the word LOVE in the picture above. Have you seen it anywhere? Although I heard during the sermon that we should rightly trust in His love today.
I remember that I wrote a few lines on your blog about following Jesus about two years ago. I mean that passage where He called His disciples so that they were able to immediately leave their nets on the ground. [Ya know – Jesus as the huge electro magnet and we as His helplessly attracted tiny iron filings sticking firmly to our Lord due to His supernatural “glue” of LOVE. 😉 ]
As for me, this love (agape) is the best word describing a Christian life. Primarily, it is not about what we DO but what we ARE as soon as we continually abide in Him. (*)
“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned.” (Jn 15:5-6 – ESV)
This fruit God wants to see in us has been described in Gal 5:22:23 (ESV), for it is written,
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”
If someone abides in Christ’s Spirit which lives in him (Jn 14:23; Rom 8:9), this fruit somehow automatically comes forth and blesses everyone who gets in touch with such a fruit-bearing branch.
This is Gospel life, the Good News, when it is no longer necessary to preach the Law in order to crush people, because
“Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” (Rom 13:10)
If someone has been blessed during his lifetime with becoming a permanent abode of our Lord and our Father through the Holy Spirit (Jn 14:23), then this eternal assurance or guarantee (2 Cor 1:22, 5:5; Eph 1:13-14) of having been saved from “death” into eternal life lives like a living testimony in our own spirit. John said,
“We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.”
In conclusion, I would say that water baptism – as a forerunner, so to speak – is the promise of assurance outside of us, whereas baptism in the Holy Ghost and fire (Lk 3:16) is the experience of that promise having been fulfilled IN us.
So, to me, love is the “bestest” thing to be. Do you agree, Stevie? 🙂
Sincerely,
Says Suzy S. from Germany
PS
Mark has been on vacation for quite some time now, right? Hopefully, he made a splendid recovery. Warm regards from me!
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(*) As to the DOING vs. BEING issue, just in case you’re interested, you might check out the link below which leads to a blog – on which I also commented – which deals with this very distinction. The blogger, Michael Clark (a Vietnam War combat vet), is a very honest and open man who didn’t hide his own failures, again and again. Impressed me that much!
http://awildernessvoice.wordpress.com/2013/12/24/empowered-by-love/
Hello Susanne!
I hope you are well.
I just copied that photo (of all the words). it would have been nice if “love” was included in it.
“Love” is an important word…no doubt about it.
I think the only way you can have real ‘love’, is if it is not coerced. And for that, one must be free.
So I think they go together.
Just on a bit of a break from work and I have to get back.
Thank you, friend.
Always great to hear from you, Susanne.
Change 🙂
That’s a good one, too, Petra!
He does a lot of things for us, doesn’t He.