Valuing Christ

Valuing

 

Sunday 12/03/17 

Series: Doers of the Word

Message – Valuing Christ

Click HERE for Video

 

 

Valuing Christ

Last time I taught, it was about what we value

I had said that there are words for love in the Greek, but what I SHOULD have said is that there are three words for love which are most commonly used in the New Testament.

Below are some of the Greek words for love and their general meaning, but the ones in bold are those we are most familiar with and are the only ones we will address…

  • Eros –  Sexual passion. The first kind of love was eros, named after the Greek god of fertility, and it represented the idea of sexual passion and desire. …
  • Phileo – Friendship, based upon common interests. Can represent deep friendships.
  • Ludus – Playful love.
  • Agape – Committed and devotional love.
  • Pragma – Longstanding love. 
  • Philautia – Love of the self.

Review 

  • We learned that agape love takes us places in our loyalty to God that phileo & eros never will.
    • There are times when…
  • Emotions will fail you
  • Desires to honor Him will be out stripped by the heat of the moment

But when there is dedication and commitment, loyalty and devotion – aka~ agape, there will be long-lasting fidelity.

 

  • What makes the difference? What do you value!
  • HOW you view something has EVERYTHING to do with the value you place upon it.

Jesus essentially said it this way, where your warehouse is, there your heart will be also. ~ Lk. 12:34

I showed you that what Jesus was saying was that whatever you amass… what you store up is where you’re true affections are. That is what you truly desire, posses passion for.

 

  • Change your views and that will reset your values

 

Phil. 3:20-21,

“(20) For our citizenship is in heaven; from which also we wait for our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:  (21)  Who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of His glory, according to the working whereby He is able even to subject all things unto himself.”

 

  • What you value will guide your dedication

 

Deep heart commitment comes from where we place our greatest value and THAT produces enduring loyalty!

There are times when the only thing that will keep you from sinning…the only thing which will cause your fruit to continue and remain is loyalty to what you value!

This week we are going to focus on knowing Him.

Knowing Him

The key to all the above is truly knowing Him.

  • Agape
  • Value
  • Changing your views (opinions)
  • Submitting to His Lordship

1 Corinthians 1,

“1  Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

2  To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

3  Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

4  I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus,

5  that you were enriched in everything by Him in all utterance and all knowledge,

6  even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you,

7  so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

8  who will also confirm you to the end, that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9  God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

You cannot value one you do not know.

Your value of a person will be limited to how deeply you really know them.

The Lord has recently brought me to a place of awareness, where I found myself thinking, “I really do not know You Jesus… Not as You really are.”

  • Bigger.. Much much bigger!
    • Creator – this is huge.
    • Do I really know Him?

 

This service had no notes since it was an open discussion…Blessings! 

 

I hope this teaching will challenge you and encourage you to place your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord.

You have a special place in God’s family & kingdom. If you do not know Him, please use our ‘Contact Us‘ page and reach out so we may have the privilege of introducing you to the Lord. Neither money nor attendance at our church will be mentioned.

If you have been spiritually fed by this ministry and wish to give, we truly appreciate that and you may do so here, but all outreaches of this ministry are FREE for you and anyone to enjoy at no cost.

Blessings!

 

Hi my name is Mark and though I am opposed to titles, I am currently the only Pastor (shepherd/elder) serving our assembly right now.

I have been Pastoring in one capacity or another for nearly 30 years now, though never quite like I am today.

Early in 2009 the Lord revealed to me that the way we had structured our assembly (church) was not scriptural in that it was out of sync with what Paul modeled for us in the New Testament. In truth, I (like many pastors I am sure) never even gave this fundamental issue of church structure the first thought. I had always assumed that church structure was largely the same everywhere and had been so from the beginning. While I knew Paul had some very stringent things to say about the local assembly of believers, the point of our gatherings together and who may or may not lead, I never even considered studying these issues but assumed we were all pretty much doing it right...safety in numbers right?! Boy, I couldn't have been more wrong!

So needless to say, my discovery that we had been doing it wrong for nearly two decades was a bit of a shock to me! Now, this "revelation" did not come about all at once but over the course of a few weeks. We were a traditional single pastor led congregation. It was a top-bottom model of ministry which is in part biblical, but not in the form of a monarchy.

The needed change did not come into focus until following 9 very intense months of study and discussions with those who were leaders in our church at the time.

We now understand and believe that the Bible teaches co-leadership with equal authority in each local assembly. Having multiple shepherds with God's heart and equal authority protects both Shepherds and sheep. Equal accountability keeps authority and doctrine in check. Multiple shepherds also provide teaching with various styles and giftings with leadership skills which are both different and complementary.

For a while we had two co-pastors (elders) (myself and one other man) who led the church with equal authority, but different giftings. We both taught in our own ways and styles, and our leadership skills were quite different, but complimentary. We were in complete submission to each other and worked side-by-side in the labor of shepherding the flock.

Our other Pastor has since moved on to other ministry which has left us with just myself. While we currently only have one Pastor/Elder, it is our desire that God, in His faithfulness and timing, may bring us more as we grow in maturity and even in numbers.

As to my home, I have been married since 1995 to my wonderful wife Terissa Woodson who is my closest friend and most trusted ally.

As far as my education goes, I grew up in a Christian home, but questioned everything I was ever taught.

I graduated from Bible college in 1990 and continued to question everything I was ever taught (I do not mention my college in order to avoid being labeled).

Perhaps my greatest preparation for ministry has been life and ministry itself. To quote an author I have come to enjoy namely Fredrick Buechner in his writing entitled, Now and Then, "If God speaks to us at all other than through such official channels as the Bible and the church, then I think that He speaks to us largely through what happens to us...if we keep our hearts open as well as our ears, if we listen with patience and hope, if we remember at all deeply and honestly, then I think we come to recognize beyond all doubt, that, however faintly we may hear Him, He is indeed speaking to us, and that, however little we may understand of it, His word to each of us is both recoverable and precious beyond telling." ~ Fredrick Buechner

Well that is about all there is of interest to tell you about me.

I hope our ministry here is a blessing to you and your family. I also hope that it is only a supplement to a local church where you are committed to other believers in a community of grace.

~God Bless!