Two Years Later…
I guess something should be said about the two year hiatus and what is happening next.
I guess something should be said about the two year hiatus and what is happening next.
The work of Jesus Christ on the cross paid the penalty of our sin. Where sin required a punishment of death, Jesus Christ came to bear the weight of that punishment on Himself, a punishment we could not sufficiently pay. In our rebellion against God, God made the first move to save and rescue mankind from the eternal consequences of our sin. The Old Testament paved the path for this substitutional atonement, but only the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross would be fully sufficient to meet the righteous requirements of holiness to return to the presence of God forever.
Sin has been woven into our nature and into our DNA, leaving us guilty of sinful nature and turning our hearts away from the King. Rebellion against the King should always be treated as a full on insurrection and an attack on the rule of the holy King of the Universe. Sin, then, any amount of sin, must be punished with death. There can be no alternative that would be sufficient to satisfy the righteous requirements from a Holy and perfect god.
Prayer centers our heart in submission to God by bringing Him the fullness of our desires and knowing that God is greater than all those things.
Prayer centers our heart in submission to God by bringing Him the fullness of our desires and knowing that God is greater than all those things.
Prayer centers our heart in submission to God by bringing Him the fullness of our desires and knowing that God is greater than all those things.
rally, the idea of breaking of bread has not significantly changed much over time. During the time that Luke wrote the book of Acts, the idea of breaking bread with someone was an act of intimacy with that person. The meal was often spent reclining with one another in an intimate setting as the people ate together. For the people of God to devote themselves to the breaking of bread is not just a sharing of food with one another but an intimacy of shared life with one another.
Each of these would represent a revolutionary approach of bringing together a diverse group of people with seemingly nothing else is coming other than faith in Jesus Christ. At the center of the church remained a devote focus on Jesus Christ and the Gospel of His work in creation and on the cross. At the center of the devotion came the teachings of those closest to Jesus Christ, the apostles. The church, in order to survive the tumultuous culture of the day would need a unified message and purpose surrounding them. The full teaching of the Apostles, rooting themselves in the Gospel, would equip and challenge the church to actively pursue the things of God and keep in step with the Spirit that resides within them and guides them.
Each of these would represent a revolutionary approach of bringing together a diverse group of people with seemingly nothing else is coming other than faith in Jesus Christ. At the center of the church remained a devote focus on Jesus Christ and the Gospel of His work in creation and on the cross. At the center of the devotion came the teachings of those closest to Jesus Christ, the apostles. The church, in order to survive the tumultuous culture of the day would need a unified message and purpose surrounding them. The full teaching of the Apostles, rooting themselves in the Gospel, would equip and challenge the church to actively pursue the things of God and keep in step with the Spirit that resides within them and guides them.
God designed mankind to work in the same way that God designed mankind to rest and Sabbath. Both are vital to worshipping and glorifying God in the entirety of our lives. The two ditches the Christian faces push them to either be in a perpetual state of sabbath rest, something God did not intend, or a perpetual state of work, something that God equally did not intend. Instead, the one who follows God should find an equal emphasis on rest and work as God commands each to be done in a specific way. In each case, though, they are done as if we are doing them representing and working for the Lord.
