God calls each of us to personal reformation. We are to know the truth and submit our lives to it, holding back nothing for ourselves. But while sound teaching is essential to Christian growth, God also uses the truth lived out in the church to shape and transform us. Mature and godly saints provide wonderful examples to emulate, faithful brothers and sisters in the Lord hold us accountable to walk in the Spirit, and relationships expose our sins and weaknesses so that we may repent, learn, and grow. As we live life in the local body, God works to form in us four essential characteristics of holiness. He teaches us humility, which we learn as we compare ourselves with the perfections of God rather than the failings of men. He teaches us gentleness, which is not timidity but rather power under control, being slow to anger and yet firm and unyielding in the truth. He teaches us patience, which always looks for the faithful way through rather than the easy way out. Finally, He teaches us forbearing love. It is the love modeled perfectly by our Master: a love that is self-sacrificing, a love that endures, and a love that cannot be extinguished.
The Christian's Worthy Walk: Personal Reformation, Part 2
Passage: Ephesians 4:1–4:6
May 11, 2014 • Pastor Marc Wragg
The Mystery of God Revealed, Part 1
January 12, 2014 • Pastor Marc Wragg
What are the marks of someone who is prepared to pour out their life for Gospel ministry? We need look no further than the Apostle Paul to find our answer. The apostle had an obvious passion for teaching the truth, but that passion was rooted in a profound conviction that his life was not his own, and it was tempered by a knowledge that opposition to the Gospel message would cause him great suffering. Paul understood that God had entrusted a stewardship to him, and his love for God fueled his determination to see Christ exalted even if that meant his own death. What about you? Are you prepared to go wherever the Lord leads, or lose your wealth, reputation, friends, or even your very life if that's what faithfulness and love demand? Great usefulness for the Kingdom is often accompanied by great personal suffering and loss, but greater still is the hope we have in Jesus Christ.
The Mystery of God Revealed, Part 2
January 19, 2014 • Pastor Marc Wragg
We want a grace that makes our lives easier, but the grace that God gives radically transforms those who embrace it. It is a free gift that cannot be earned by any act of devotion or service, yet demands that we surrender everything earthly to pursue the treasures of eternal life with Christ. Sustained by this grace alone, we must learn to patiently bear every burden, and to humbly accept whatever honor God chooses to give. Confident in the message of this grace alone, we must resist the pressure to compromise the gospel for fear of man, or to dilute its power with fleshly and novel ideas. We preach the mystery of God revealed to the apostles and prophets, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the only message that unites man with God and conforms the sinner into the image of the Son!
The Mystery of God Revealed, Part 3
January 26, 2014 • Pastor Marc Wragg
The inclusion of Gentiles in God's redemptive plan is glorious news, but the shock of it is lost on modern ears. The early Church struggled with the idea that the idolatrous Gentiles, historic enemies of Israel, could become fellow heirs of the blessings and promises of God. Some believed that Gentile converts must first become circumcised Jews before they could be saved in Christ. The controversy over this error caused great anxiety in the Church, but fear and uncertainty gave way to praise as God clearly revealed that He would magnify His name throughout all the earth by saving a people who had never sought Him, and uniting Jew and Gentile into one new man in Jesus Christ. Then as now, the gospel is both a wonderful and difficult truth. If we preach any other message, we may temporarily change a man's circumstances, but we can never change his heart.