Life Together
Finding Your Place in God's Church
The Gift of Healings
November 18, 2018 • Pastor Paul Edwards
The only time the word "healing" occurs in any of Paul's letters is the three times it occurs in 1 Corinthians 12. Do we put more emphasis on healing than the Bible does? What does the Bible say about how we are to handle sickness and disease in the post-apostolic church?
The Gift of Miracles
November 18, 2018 • Pastor Paul Edwards
There are three supernatural phenomena in the Bible: miracles, signs, and wonders. What are the differences? How does the Bible define a "miracle"? Is the gift of miracles active in the church today, and if it is, how so? It is clear that “miracles” in 1 Corinthians 12:9 and 28 refers to the Holy Spirit’s authority over the spirit of darkness. It is also clear that the gifts of miracles and healings were rare in the early church and most likely limited to the Apostles or those immediately connected to the Apostles: 1 Corinthians 12:28-30. The primary purpose of these gifts in the New Testament was to affirm to the Jewish people those chosen by God as having received divine revelation from God in the same way God used signs and wonders in the Old Testament to affirm his choice of Moses and Aaron, and the prophets.
The Serving Gifts: Faith
November 11, 2018 • Pastor Paul Edwards
Faith is not a feeling. Faith is knowing. Faith is Christ as our confidence, Christ's word as our conviction, and Christ's conquering as our conquering. Conquering by faith may mean losing by sight. But we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen because faith is the evidence - the steadfast assurance - of things not seen.
Progress in the Christian Life: Walk, Talk, Sit, Stand
October 21, 2018 • Pastor Paul Edwards
There is to be progress in the Christian life, from infancy to maturity. The Apostle Paul uses language throughout his letter to the Ephesians centered in the words "grow up." What does progress in the Christian life look like?
The Serving Gifts: Leadership
October 28, 2018 • Pastor Paul Edwards
How does the gift of leadership given by the Holy Spirit in the context of His church differ from the natural abilities of leadership in the world? Who are the leaders within a local church? What characterizes the leaders within a local church that makes them easily identifiable by the church?
The Speaking Gifts: Tongues and the Interpretation of Tongues
October 7, 2018 • Pastor Paul Edwards
Paul writes to the Church at Corinth to correct their misunderstanding of the use of the gift of tongues in the church. Tongues caused division and confusion in Corinth, and causes just as much confusion and division in today's church. Have tongues ceased? If so, why - since all of the other gifts haven't? If not, how are we to exercise this gift in the church today? PART ONE OF TWO PARTS
The Gifts of the Spirit: Divided and Defined
May 6, 2018 • Pastor Paul Edwards
In 1 Corinthians 12 and Romans 12, the Apostle Paul identifies 16 separate and distinct gifts which the Holy Spirit sovereignly distributes to members of the the church. In 1 Peter 4, the Apostle Peter divides these gifts into two groups: speaking gifts and serving gifts.
The Gifts of the Spirit: Distributing, Differing, Desiring
April 29, 2018 • Pastor Paul Edwards
From Ephesians 2:22 we learn that the church is "an habitation of God through the Spirit." We turn now to consider the means by which the Spirit is building the Church: the gifts of the Spirit which have been sovereignly distributed to the particular members of the church.
"Through the Spirit"
April 22, 2018 • Pastor Paul Edwards
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul emphasizes the role of the Holy Spirit in sealing the believer, enabling the believer's access to the Father, revealing the word of God, producing unity in the church, and gifting each believer to serve the church in order to build it. What is involved in the sealing of the Holy Spirit? How do I know that I have been sealed by the Holy Spirit?
Habitat for Deity, Part II
April 15, 2018 • Pastor Paul Edwards
What is your place, purpose and role within the church? In answering that question, we first must answer two others: what is the church, and how do I become a part of the church. In today's message we see that we become a part of the church by the initiative of God who through His mighty power has raised Jesus from the dead, and through our faith in Jesus, God's mighty power extends to us in raising us from spiritual death and placing us within the body of Christ.
Habitat for Deity
April 8, 2018 • Pastor Paul Edwards
What is my place, purpose, and role in the church? Before we can answer that question, we have to answer two others which Paul addresses in our text: what is the church? and how does anyone become a part of the church? Paul defines the church by giving us four pictures: a body, a community, a family, and a building.