December 8, 2013

Sunday School

2 Timothy 2:1-26

• Be a minister to others
• Provide opportunities for each person to serve others
• Be strong spiritually
• You must be qualified to teach the Word
• Study and pray
• Obey the Word and the Will of God
• The spirit is free even when the body is chained
• Listen with a spiritual ear
• Salvation is peace, prosperity, love, joy, kindness, godliness...
• We must lift God up in our prayers and praises
• We must rightly divide
• Be of a firm foundation
• Keep yourself pure
• Keep fit and ready for good works
• Pursue faith, love and peace and enjoy fellowship with others

Sermon

John 1:14 - And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father), full of grace and truth.

Subject: And The Word Became Flesh

Jesus Christ is the deity as portrayed by John.
The "infinite" became "flesh" to show obedience to God as an example to us.

• The Word became human, "By doing so, Christ became (1) the perfect teacher -- in Jesus' life is seen how God thinks and therefore how we Christians should think. 
•  Philippians 2:5-11  - v5 Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. v6 Though He did not demand and cling to His rights as God. v7 Je made Himself nothing; He took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form.  v8 And in human form He obediently humbled Himself even further by dying a criminal's death on a cross.  v9 Because of this, God raised Him up to the heights of heaven and gave Him a name that is above every other name,  v10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee with bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,  v11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
• (2) Christ became the perfect example -- as a model of what we are to become, He shows us how to live and gives us the power to live that way.
• 1 Peter 2:21 - This suffering is all part of what God had called you to, Christ, who suffered for you, is your example. Follow in His steps.
• Christ was the perfect sacrifice -- Jesus came as a sacrifice for all sins, and His death satisfied God's requirements for the removal of sin.  Colossians 1:15-23 - v15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation.  v16 Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see - kings, kingdoms, rulers and authorities. Everything has been created through Him and for Him.  v17 He existed before everything else began, and He holds all creation together.  v18 Christ is the head of the church, which is His body. He is the first of all who will rise from the dead, so He is first in everything.  v19 For God is all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ,  v20 and by Him God reconciled everything to Himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of His blood on the cross.  v21 This includes you who were once so far away from God. You were His enemies, separated from Him by your evil thoughts and actions,  v22 yet now He has brought you back as His friends. He has done this through His death on the cross in His own human body. As a result, He has brought you into the very presence of God, and you are hold and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault.  v23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand in it firmly. Don't drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News had been preached all over the world, and I, Paul, have been appointed by God to proclaim it.

God's appearance on earth in Jesus Christ
1. The heart of God, His love for us is shown through Jesus - John 10:10 ......I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly.
God sent His Son even knowing the struggles Jesus would face and the outcome, the Crucifixion.
2. God's need for the people and our need for Him.  Christ died for us, to wash away our sins through His blood.
3. God's mysterious plan is revealed to us - 1 Timothy 3:16 - And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness:  God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on  in the world, received up into glory.

Colossians 2:9 - For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form...