Good Shepherd Community Church

1 John 5 v13 specifically states we can know if we have eternal life. -'I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.- He writes to believers so that they can have assurance of salvation in Jesus Christ.- To know is to enter into a personal reliance upon Jesus Christ, enter into a personal relationship with him. It is not mere mental assent or acquaintance. It is a imitate relationship establish by faith through the working of the Holy Spirit. -Christian assurance is -a Christian believer's confidence that he or she is in right standing with God, and that this will issue in ultimate salvation.- -D A Carson, Reflections on Christian Assurance--This truth of assurance of salvation in Jesus Christ is necessary for God's righteous honor and for our knowing how to live as Christians and how to handle our failures. 1 John 1-5-2-2- 1 John 5-1-13

In this final section of Peter's first letter, the apostle gives several commands to the churches he was writing. He often gives a reason for the commands or a benefit from following them. God's people were commanded to...-1. Walk in humility under God's mighty hand.-2. Cast all their anxieties on him.-3. Be sober minded and watchful.-4. Resist the devil, firm in the faith. -5. Stand firm in the grace of God. -6. Greet one another with a kiss of love. --In acknowledging the divine authority of these apostolic commands, we would also do well to implement them.

At the very beginning of the church as we know it is the Day of Pentecost. Acts 2 records this event in detail. There are various teachings today about the meaning of this event. We are left with a clear witness as to its meaning by the witness of John to Jesus promise in the Upper Room and to Luke's account in Luke 24 and in Acts 1 and 2.-The event of Pentecost and its continuing relevance must be determined and articulated by the witness of Luke, John, Peter and Paul. This message looks at 3 meanings assigned to the Pentecost event by the Scripture,

God has called pastors to diligently shepherd and lead the congregations of God's people, as all people in the church are to be clothed in humility toward one another. --Sermon goal- -To help us understand the role-ministry of pastors so we can-- Understand the pastors' responsibilities.- Submit to their ministry as they adhere to the Word of God.- Support them and pray for them.- Be thankful to God for providing them -see Eph 4- to his church.

The Apostle Peter closes his first letter with an exhortation to his fellow elders and the young men. They are to relate to one another in humility. It is in this immediate context that Peter issues his Devil alert alarm. The command is rooted in an immediate context as well as in the context of the whole letter.-Be sober-minded- be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5-8

Paul spent much time and words in exhorting his young ministers, Timothy and Titus to hold to the pattern of sound words in which they they had been instructed. These core beliefs of the faith are to be taught to passed on coming generations. They are the measuring line, the rule by which other teachings and teachers are to be evaluated. Their contents can be determined by the summaries Paul gives in his letters to the churches. In early Christian history they are referred to and summarized in the Rule of Faith. Some Bible passages in which they are in part found are- Titus 2-11-14, 1 Corinthians 15-1-11- Philippians 2- 5b-11. --Pattern of Sound Words-The Gospel--This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance- --Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--- For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind,-the man Christ Jesus who gave himself as a ransom for all people. - Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. --This is my gospel.--Great indeed, we

God has appointed his Son, the Lord Jesus as the Chief Shepherd of his people.-This is the fulfillment of his own promise recorded in Ezekiel 34-11 -'For the Lord Yahweh says- -Behold, I myself, even I, will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered abroad, so I will seek out my sheep. I will deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day. .. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will cause them to lie down,- says the Lord Yahweh.--v.23 And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them- he shall feed them and be their shepherd.--John 10-11ff-11 I am the good shepherd.Isaiah 40-11- Ezekiel 34-11-12,15,22 The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I'm known by my own- 15 even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep. He who is the Chief

To churches who were experiencing persecution because of their Christian faith we see in this passage--I. The Prevalence of Fiery Trials-II. The Purpose of Fiery Trials-III. Proper Responses to Fiery Trials

Paul enumerated the qualifications for a pastor -overseer, bishop- in Titus 1-9 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.-Titus 2-1 But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine.-The Apostle Paul was a great advocate of proper doctrine.--Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine -1 Timothy 4-13-.--All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness- That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works -2 Timothy 3-16-17-.--Although many today neglect sound doctrine or even deny truth God's word puts a high value on teaching the objective truths about. God, humanity, Jesus Christ' person and work. In John 18-37 jesus said, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.---Both the beli

This sermon seeks to demonstrate that the three persons of the one triune God were all participants in the conception of our Lord Jesus Christ in the womb of the Virgin Mary. -Likewise, in all of Christ's saving and sanctifying work, the three persons of the Trinity worked together to accomplish the salvation and sanctification of God's people.

God as Trinity or better stated the One Eternal God as a triune Being is a crucial teaching of the Bible and therefore is essential to true Christianity. Yet this doctrine is often neglected in the pulpit by pastors. Failure to adequately instruct believers in this truth has resulted in serious errors in the faith touching many other doctrines especially the person of Jesus Christ and his redemptive acts. - How should this doctrine be stated---A brief look at Matthew 28-16-20 and 2 Corinthians 13-14 and creedal summary statement and hymn expressions.-18 And Jesus came and said to them, -All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.--2 Corinthians 13-14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with yo

Jesus in the hours before his sufferings and death on behalf of sinful people spent several hours seeking to prepare them. He spoke of leaving them. First a short leaving by his death and burial but in a little while you will see me again. He is prophesying his third day resurrection. Then of a much longer departure when he returns to the Father. It is in this connection that Jesus speaks of the Holy Spirit as his ascension gift that he will send to them. His promise was fulfilled on Pentecost ten days after he ascended into heaven. The Spirit brings the spiritual presence of Christ Jesus and he bears witness to him. He empowers believers in the Lord Jesus to witness beginning with the disciples on that Pentecost day but continuing to this day. He is Christ's ascension gift and he comes with fullness of power and grace gifts for ministry and witness to Jesus.

Jesus' ascension into heaven after 40 days of pos- resurrection appearances and detailed instructios is related by Luke in his gospel in chapter 24 verse 50-53 and by him in Acts 1. Jesus spoke of returning to his Father. Why did Jesus need to return to heaven after his resurrection from the dead--

In his grace Jesus not only forgave a repentant Peter on the day of his resurrection but he restored Peter 3 weeks later to his role as an apostle. John records this intimate conversation between Jesus and Peter on the shore of Lake Galilee in John 21. For every denial Peter had uttered- I do not know the man- Jesus now allows him to confess his personal love and affection. To each affirmation of love Jesus responded with the commission- Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Feed my sheep. His ultimate command to Peter was Follow me.

Although Simon Peter loved Jesus of Nazareth in the hour of trial when Peter from the courtyard was identified as a follower of Jesus, he denied even knowing him- How could this happen-- The tragic denial by Peter is recorded in all four gospel narratives. How can the designated leader of the apostles and the confessor of Jesus' messiahship deny even knowing him--

On several occasions during his three year ministry Jesus told his disciples about his coming suffering, death, and resurrection. But he also informed them, as we see in John's Gospel, on numerous times of his coming ascension to the Father. -In verse 28 of John 16 we see--1. Jesus' Preexistence with the Father-2. Jesus' Presence with His People-3. Jesus' Preparation of His Disciples for His Coming Ascension-All these predictions came true as will all the other predictions Jesus made about the yet-to-be-fulfilled-future.

The Apostle Peter is the great example of a true confessor of Jesus Christ. In Matthew 16-16, in answer to Jesus' question to his disciples as to who people were saying he was, Peter declared, -You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.- -On another occasion in John 6, after many of the followers of Jesus were deserting him, Jesus asked his disciples if they, too, would leave him. Peter answered, -Lord, to whom shall be go-- You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and come to know that you are the Holy One of God- -John 6-69-.-This bold declaration and confession of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, marked Peter's preaching as he led the early church in the same confession of Jesus . -Peter's untiring confession of the Lordship of Christ led to his own martyrdom. Likewise many true confessors of Jesus are suffering for their loyalty to declare the truth today. -In a world in desperate need of hearing the Gospel, may we likewise not be hesitant to declare and confess that -Jesus is the

There are more personal interactions recorded concerning Peter and Jesus than all the other apostle's combined. Simon Peter was one the earliest disciples having been brought to meet Jesus by his brother Andrew. After the great confession of Jesus as the Christ -Messiah- the Son of the Living God he and his confession shared by all the apostle's became the rock on which the church is built. Peter was known for his fierce loyalty to Jesus in which at times he expressed ideas contrary to God's will and Jesus' mission. At the last Passover of Jesus and his Twelve he stated that if all the others forsook Jesus and fled he would never do this. Yet when the Jewish authorities and the battalion of Roman soldiers came to arrest Jesus after stricking off the ear of the high priest servant and told to put his sword away by Jesus Peter too only followed at a distance. When through the apostle's John personal knowledge of some in the high priest circle Peter gained entrance into the courtyard so he could hear what was ha

How did Simon Peter come to know Jesus and become his follower-- After spending some time off and on with Jesus what was Simon-Peter- first confession regarding Jesus and himself--

After an exhausting night of unsuccessful fishing, seven of Jesus' disciples had a surprise encounter with their risen Lord on the shore of Lake Tiberias. Jesus not only convincingly revealed his physical, bodily resurrection to a group of his disciples for the third time, but he even prepared breakfast of fish and bread for them. -This passage is further testimony to the importance of multiple witnesses to verify Christ's bodily resurrection.