God the Father Almighty

God the Father Almighty

Ian Thomas

Ephesians 1:3-14

Main Idea: God is the praiseworthy, eternal, and almighty Father who brings to pass every purpose of his will.

I. The Always Father

Christians believe in a trinitarian God: 

• God the Father is the architect of redemption

• God the Son accomplishes redemption

• God the Spirit applies redemption.

John 17:24: Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

“Since God is, before all things, a Father, and not primarily a Creator or Ruler, all his ways are beautifully fatherly. It is not that this God ‘does’ being Father as his day job, only to kick back in the evenings as plain old ‘God.’ It is not that he has a nice blob of fatherly icing on top. He is Father. All the way down. Thus all that he does, he does as Father. That is who he is. He creates as a Father and he rules as a Father; and that means the way he rules over creation is most unlike the way any other God would rule over creation.” ~ Michael Reeves

II. The Adopting Father

Our adoption in Christ is:

1. Planned 

2. Plentiful

3. Powerful

4. Permanent

“What is a Christian? The question can be answered in many ways, but the richest answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God as Father… If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father.” ~ J.I. Packer

III. The Almighty Father

Introduction to the Apostles' Creed

Introduction to the Apostles' Creed

Panel Discussion

THE APOSTLES’ CREED

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

 I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
and born of the virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to hell.
The third day he rose again from the dead.
He ascended to heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting. Amen.

“This is what Christians believe—what all Christians believe. The Apostles’ Creed collapses time and space, uniting all true believers in the one, holy, and apostolic faith. This creed is a summary of what the Bible teaches, a narrative of God’s redemptive love, and a concise statement of basic Christianity… All Christians believe more than is contained in the Apostles’ Creed, but none can believe less...There is such power in knowing that when we confess the Apostles’ Creed, alone or in corporate worship, we are declaring the truth of the Christian faith with the very words that gave early Christians hope, sent martyrs confidently to their deaths, and have instructed Christ’s church throughout the centuries.” ~ Al Mohler

The Risen Redeemer

The Risen Redeemer

Ian Thomas

Luke 24:13-35

“If Jesus rose from the dead, then you have to accept all that he said; if he didn’t rise from the dead, then why worry about any of what he said? The issue on which everything hangs is not whether or not you like his teaching, but whether or not he rose from the dead. That is how the first hearers felt who heard reports of the resurrection. They knew that if it was true it meant we can’t live our lives anyway we want. It also means we don’t have to be afraid of anything, not Roman swords, not cancer, nothing. If Jesus rose from the dead, it changes everything.” ~ Tim Keller

Main Idea: The resurrection of Jesus is the fulfillment of promised redemption, securing hope and igniting faith.  

I. Life Without Resurrection (24:13-24)

1 Corinthians 15:17–19: And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.

II. The Necessity of the Resurrection (24:25-27)

2 Corinthians 1:20: For all the promises of God find their yes in him

“That he died manifests his love and willingness to save. It is his rising again that manifests his power and his ability to save. We cannot be saved by a dead Christ, who undertook but could not perform, and who still lies under the Syrian sky, another martyr of impotent love. To save, He must not merely pass to but through death. If the penalty was fully paid, it cannot have broken him, it must need to have been broken upon him. The resurrection of Christ is thus the indispensable evidence of His completed work, of His accomplished redemption.” ~ B.B. Warfield

III. The Power of the Resurrection

Ephesians 1:18-20: “...having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead...”

The Crucified King

The Crucified King

Ian Thomas

Luke 23:32-49

“We can ignore pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” ~ C.S. Lewis

Main Idea: The cross was God’s divine plan to overthrow evil and accomplish salvation for us in Christ.

I. The Cosmic Plan of the Cross (23:32-43)

Genesis 3:15: I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise his heel.

1 Peter 2:24: He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

“Jesus could not save himself, not because of any physical constraint, but because of a moral imperative. He came to do his Father’s will, and he would not be deflected from it... It was not nails that held Jesus to that wretched cross; it was his unqualified resolution, out of love for his Father, to do his Father’s will—and, within that framework, it was his love for sinners like me. He really could not save himself.” ~ D.A. Carson

II. The Completed Work of the Cross (23:44-49)
Galatians 2:20: I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

The Good and Pleasant Place

The Good and Pleasant Place

Pat Kappenman

Psalms 133-134

I. What it is that David praises as “good and pleasant”
II. Why he regard it to be “good and pleasant”
III. How we can participate in the “goodness and pleasantness” of it

Walking in Forgiveness, Waiting in Faith

Walking in Forgiveness, Waiting in Faith

Ian Thomas

Psalm 130

The Lord graciously forgives guilty sinners and invites us to wait on him in faith

I. Walking in Forgiveness (130:1-4)

Hebrews 4:12-13: For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

The good news of the gospel: although the Lord does mark sins, the record can be wiped clean. For those who are in Christ Jesus, God is not counting our trespasses against us because they’ve been credited to Jesus’ account and we’ve been given his righteousness. 

II. Waiting in Faith (130:5-8)

The “waiting” of the Christian life is not an inactive, passive waiting. Instead, we are called to wait by: 

• Watching (130:5-6)

• Hoping (130:7-8)

“The Christian’s waiting and watching is hoping – based on the conviction that God is actively involved in His creation and vigorously at work in redemption.  Hoping does not mean doing nothing. It is not fatalistic resignation. It means going about our assigned tasks, confident that God will provide the meaning and the conclusion.  It is not compelled to work away at keeping up appearances with a bogus spirituality. It is the opposite of desperate and panicky manipulation, of scurrying and worrying. Hoping is not dreaming.  It is not spinning an illusion or fantasy to protect us from our boredom or our pain. It means a confident, alert expectation that God will do what He said He will do.” ~ Eugene Peterson

A Present Help in Great Trouble

A Present Help in Great Trouble (Audio)

Ian Thomas

Psalm 46

Main Idea: Though this world is full of trouble, we can turn to God for help and strength

I. The Power of God (46:1-3)

“We sing this psalm to the praise of God, because He is with us and powerfully and miraculously preserves and defends His church and His word against all fanatical spirits, against the gates of hell, against the implacable (plack-able) hatred of the devil, and against all the assaults of the world, the flesh, and sin.” ~ Martin Luther

II. The Presence of God (46:4-7)

III. The Promises of God (46:8-11)

1 Peter 5:6–7: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God… casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”

 “It’s as true today as it will be true one hundred years from now, as true as it was two weeks ago: we do not know what the future holds, but we do know the one that holds the future. And that makes all the difference.” ~ Kevin DeYoung

Walking in Perseverance and Endurance

Walking in Perseverance and Endurance

Ian Thomas

Psalm 129

Though we will face opposition, God has broken the power of the enemy and will one day end all evil.

I. The Reality of Evil (129:1-3)

The history of God’s people (whether Israel or the Church) has always been marked by opposition, persecution, and affliction. The affliction here is described in three ways:

1. It was intense (“greatly… greatly”)

2. It was persistent (“from my youth”)

3. It was thorough (“they made long their furrows”) 

The exact identity of the oppressors is unclear, but the “wicked” in this passage can be applied to all that stands against God, his agenda, and his people. Martin Luther described 3 categories of opposition:

• The World (cf. Jn. 15:18-19)

• The Flesh (cf. Rom. 8:5-8)

• The Devil (cf. Eph. 6:12) “There is no busier plowman in all the world than the devil: whoever makes short furrows, he does not.” ~ Hugh Latimer

All of this speaks to the very real existence of evil. It is not an abstract thing; evil is all around us. There are 2 implications of this:

1. We should not be surprised by evil, opposition, and affliction. Are your expectations properly aligned? 

2. We should feel some level of “friction” and conflict with the world. Have you felt this friction or have you settled into the way of the world? 

II. The Limits of Evil (129:2b, 4)

The good news of the gospel is wrapped up in the word “yet” in verse 2: “Greatly have they afflicted me from my youth, yet they have not prevailed against me.” The story of God’s people is that they have been knocked down, but never knocked out. 

The reason why the enemies have not ultimately prevailed is because the Lord “has cut the cords of the wicked.” The imagery is of God breaking the cords that would have connected the animals to the plow that was afflicting his people (129:3). 

This is how God has always worked toward his people; he continually “cuts the cords” of all bondage, persecution, and oppression, setting the stage for the greatest redemption in Jesus Christ. “The death & resurrection of Jesus is the great cord-severing ‘yet’ of redemptive history.” ~ Rhett Dodson

The reason why God severs the cords of oppression is because he is “righteous.” The Lord will act in justice & uprightness toward his covenant people, and he will not let evil prevail. This is where our perseverance & endurance comes from on the road of discipleship. 

“God sticks to his relationship. He established a personal relationship with us and stays with it. The central reality for Christians is the personal, unalterable, preserving commitment God makes to us. Perseverance is not the result of our determination, it is the result of God’s faithfulness. We survive in the way of faith not because we have extraordinary stamina but because God is righteous and because God sticks with us.” ~ Eugene Peterson

There are moments in our lives where it may feel like evil and oppression are winning, and where we do not feel like God is “sticking with us.” Though we may not understand why God allows evil to continue, we can’t argue that he does not care. The gospel reminds us that the only truly righteous one suffered in the place of the unrighteous; Jesus was afflicted so that we might be delivered from everlasting affliction. 

The finished work of Christ reorients our relationship to evil, suffering, and oppression. 

2 Corinthians 4:7–10: But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

III. The End of Evil (129:5-8)

These 4 verses are an example of an “imprecatory Psalm,” which are prayers that call upon God to bring judgment or a curse upon enemies or oppressors. Imprecatory prayers have been sources of controversy, as they seem to be at odds with the ethics Jesus urges in the New Testament, specifically to “love your enemies & pray for those who persecute you” (Cf. Matt. 5:43-44). 

4 Guiding Principles:

1. Imprecatory prayers are an appeal for God to bring about his righteous judgment and his own vindication, not our own selfish revenge.

2. Imprecatory prayers ask God to thwart the plans of evil and evildoers so they would fail.

The Psalmist prays that the enemies of God would have:

• No Victory (129:5)

• No Reaping/Spoils (129:6-7)

• No Blessing (129:8)

3. Imprecatory prayers can still be prayed while loving your enemies & praying for those who persecute you

We can’t truly love our enemies unless we hate the very things that will destroy them. We can pray for their conversion and salvation while simultaneously asking that their plans be brought to nothing so they might see their need for repentance. 

4. Imprecatory prayers must be prayed through the reality of the cross

“While Christians rightly conclude that, on this side of the cross, believers will respond to wrongs and persecution differently, we must not be too quick to recoil from these [imprecatory] psalms and miss what we should learn. One lesson is that God does indeed hate injustice. Most Western Christians haven’t experienced much in the way of violent mistreatment, and we should let these psalms help us feel the desperation and helplessness of those who have. We shouldn’t close our ears to the cries of the oppressed. Second, we should realize that virtually always the psalmist leaves the justice and vengeance to God, and does not personally take revenge, as the New Testament commands (Rom. 12:19). Finally, when we are wronged we should put the cross before our eyes, remembering that what our enemies deserve we deserve too, and that it fell on Jesus Christ so we can be pardoned.” ~ Tim Keller

Finding the Blessed Life in a Broken World

Finding the Blessed Life in a Broken World

Pat Kappenman

Psalm 127-128

There is a way of living that aligns with the “grain” of the cosmos and that results in blessedness. The way can be found.

I. What does that way of living look like?

To fear the LORD is to order the way I think, act, and feel in ALL of life under the conviction that the LORD is who He claims to be and that what He has said is true, right, and good.

We fear the LORD wrongly when we cover, run and hide. Our actions reveal that we believe Him to be arbitrary, harsh, and overbearing.

We fear the LORD rightly when we confess, trust and follow. Our actions reveal that we believe Him to be “merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,” exactly as He has revealed Himself to be. (Exodus 34:6)

Practically speaking, fearing the LORD involves walking in His ways, which includes both obedience (rule-keeping) and wisdom (righteousness). 

When we keep the rules, we limit the harm we do to our neighbors.

When we live righteously, we increase the good we do to our neighbors.

II. What does the blessedness look like that results from “fearing the LORD”?

The blessedness that follows fearing the LORD cannot be found where we tend to look for it, yet, when it is found, it satisfies more deeply than we ever expected.

III. How do I align my life “with the grain” of the cosmos?

Forsake what deserves less love for what deserves more love.  

Re-orient your loves to the LORD and to His words.

Re-enter your daily drama and live out your re-oriented loves.

Repeat the cycle regularly and intentionally.

Walking in Joy & Sorrow

Walking in Joy & Sorrow

Ian Thomas

Psalm 126 is a perfect emotional map for the Christian life. As we experience the normal ups and downs of life, we are invited not to be overly suspicious nor dominated by our feelings, but to bring them before God through prayer. 

Main Idea: The Christian life is full of joy and sorrow, appreciating God’s past faithfulness while anticipating his future grace.

I. Remembering Our Joy (126:1-3)

There is evidence that this song was composed after the Babylonian exile ended for the people of Israel by the Edict of Cyrus (cf. 2 Chron. 36:22-23). For Israelite pilgrims traveling to Jerusalem, this historical backdrop would take on a deep and rich meaning as they walked the same path as the exiles who had been set free. 

This Psalm teaches us 3 things about joy:

1. Joy is received, not manufactured

“Joy is not a requirement of Christian discipleship, it is a consequence. It is not what we have to acquire in order to experience life in Christ; it is what comes to us when we are walking in the way of faith and obedience… we cannot make ourselves joyful. Joy cannot be commanded, purchased, or arranged... Joy is what God gives, not what we work up.” ~ Eugene Peterson

This is simultaneously freeing and hopeful, and a reminder that even though we can’t manufacture it ourselves, we are commanded to fight for joy (cf. Phil. 4:4). 

2. Joy is rooted in God’s faithfulness in the past

The people of Israel are reminding themselves of God’s redemptive activity toward his people. On this side of the work of Christ, we have even more reason to look back and be reminded of the source of our joy. Remembering God’s past redemptive work reminds us that this is not mere wishful thinking, but a sure foundation to stand upon. 

“We nurture these memories of laughter, these shouts of joy. We fill our minds with the stories of God’s acts. Joy has a history. Joy is the verified, repeated experience of those involved in what God is doing. It is as real as a date in history, as solid as a stratum of rock in Palestine. Joy is nurtured by living in such a history, building on such a foundation.” ~ Eugene Peterson

Israel had a way (cf. ‘Ebenezer’) to tangibly remember the faithfulness of God toward them in the past, and we ought to find ways to do the very same thing today, being quick to bring to remembrance all that God has done. 

3. Joy affects a whole community

Joy like this becomes infectious, as everything in these verses is corporate in nature. As the Israelites remember the redemptive act of God toward them, the tense suddenly switches to the present: “The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad.” This is how we are called to fight for joy. 

II. Sowing Our Sorrows (126:4-6)

The tone of the passage shifts in v. 4 to a “lament.” A lament is an honest prayer to the Lord that stands in the gap between God’s promises and our pain. The Christian life is a simultaneous increase of both joy and sorrow. We often feel sorrow after turning to Christ because of an increasing awareness of our own sin, the sin in others, or when we feel the effects of living in a broken world. 

126:4 is an honest confession of spiritual nostalgia. “The people could not live on yesterday’s joy any more than their ancestors could live on yesterday’s food.” ~ Daniel Estes

The imagery of asking God to send streams in the “Negeb” invokes the idea of being in the desert spiritually, in a dry and barren place. A few times a year, water would rush into the ditches of the Negeb as it rained in the distance and ran down the hills, providing a flash flood of nutrients. The Israelites are crying out for the Lord to move in this way, bringing a revival,  just as he has in the past (cf. 126:1)

While waiting for the Lord to move in this way, 126:5-6 provides the roadmap for continuing to walk forward on the road of discipleship. Until the flood waters come, we are called to keep tilling the ground and sowing seeds, one day at a time. This is the heart behind our core values of fighting to show up & finding beauty in the ordinary.

Until the Lord brings a stream into the desert, we are to water the ground with our own tears. The idea of “sowing our sorrows” means:

1. We do not avoid our tears, acknowledging pain, sorrow, and hardships in our lives

2. We do not waste our tears, knowing that we will one day reap bundles of “shouts of joy.” We invest them in God and the things of God. 

Sowing seeds in the desert often feels futile and foolish, but we can have confidence that the Lord brings life from death and that our sorrows and hardships are never pointless or wasted in God’s Kingdom.

Romans 5:3–5: Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

“Our momentary weeping, while we let fall the precious seed, is scarcely to be thought of in comparison with the mighty sheaves of the exceeding glory in the land where tears are divinely and finally wiped from every eye… There is not a single drop of gall which will not turn to honey. There is not this day one drop of sweat upon your aching brow but shall crystallize into a pearl for your everlasting crown; not one pang of anguish or disappointment but shall be transmuted into celestial glory, to increase your joy, world without end” ~ Charles Spurgeon

1 Corinthians 15:58: Therefore… be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.