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by
Wayne Grudem
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March 15 - December 27, 2021
Baptism pictures (i) Christ’s redemptive work, (ii) my response in faith (as I come to be baptized), and (iii) God’s application of the benefits of redemption
they should be old enough to give a believable profession of faith.
if we truly believe in the priesthood of all believers (see 1 Peter 2:4–10), then there seems to be no need in principle to restrict the right to perform baptism only to ordained clergy.
Since baptism is the sign of entrance into the body of Christ, the church (cf. 1 Cor. 12:13 on inward spiritual baptism), then it seems appropriate that it be done within the fellowship of the church wherever possible,
SCRIPTURE MEMORY PASSAGE Romans 6:3–4:
The Lord’s Supper What is the meaning of the Lord’s Supper? How should it be observed?
THE MEANING OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
Spiritual Nourishment
The Unity of Believers
Christ Affirms That All the Blessings of Salvation Are Reserved for Me
since the New Testament teaches that all believers are priests and members of a “royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9; cf. Heb. 4:16; 10:19–22), we should not specify a certain class of people who have the rights of priests,
Jesus is speaking of a spiritual reality but using physical objects to teach us when he says, “This is my body.”
Rather, the bread and wine symbolized the body and blood of Christ, and they gave a visible sign of the fact that Christ himself was truly present.
most Protestants would agree, first, that only those who believe in Christ should participate in it because it is a sign of being a Christian and continuing in the Christian life.23
The third qualification for participation is self-examination: Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. (1 Cor. 11:27–29)
Worship
Worship is the activity of glorifying God in his presence with our voices and hearts.
the LORD your God am a jealous God” (Ex. 20:5), and “My glory I will not give to another” (Isa. 48:11). Something within us should tremble and rejoice at this fact. We should tremble with fear lest we rob God’s glory from him.
THE RESULTS OF GENUINE WORSHIP
We Delight in God
God Delights in Us
We Draw Near to God: The Amazing Unseen Reality of New Covenant Worship In the old covenant believers could only draw near to God in a limited way through the temple ceremonies;
God Draws Near to Us James tells us, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you” (James 4:8).
5. God Ministers to Us
6. The Lord’s Enemies Flee
7. Unbelievers Know They Are in God’s Presence
1. True Worship Happens in the Invisible Spiritual Realm
To worship “in spirit and truth” is best understood to mean not “in the Holy Spirit” but rather “in the spiritual realm, in the realm of spiritual activity.”10 This means that true worship involves not only our physical bodies but also our spirits, the immaterial aspect of our existence that primarily acts in the unseen realm.
We Truly Worship When We See Who God Is and Respond to Him
3. Factors That Contribute to Genuine and Effective Worship
a. Prayer. It is important to have prayer in preparation for worship,
b. Teaching. Most congregations would benefit from teaching about the spiritual nature of worship
c. Personal Reconciliation. Christians should be encouraged to make right any broken interpersonal relationships. Paul says that men are to lift holy hands “without anger or quarreling” (1 Tim. 2:8), and Jesus reminds us that we are first to “be reconciled” to our brother and then come before God’s altar and offer a gift (Matt. 5:24).
d. Pursuing Personal Holiness.
“Look at Me!” Vs. “Look at God!” The first consideration when thinking about worship music is the heart attitude of the worship leader
Are People Mostly Singing or Mostly Listening? Corporate worship should be a time when the vast majority of people in the congregation actually sing songs of worship and praise to God. A worship leader should lead people to worship, not simply worship God by himself or with the band while everybody else watches.
Gifts of the Holy Spirit:
What are spiritual gifts? How many are there? Have some gifts ceased? Seeking and using spiritual gifts.
the twentieth century has seen a remarkable increase in interest in spiritual gifts, primarily because of the influence of the Pentecostal and charismatic movements within the church.
a spiritual gift is any ability that is empowered by the Holy Spirit and used in any ministry of the church.
the Holy Spirit was at work in the Old Testament,
But in general there was less powerful activity of the Holy Spirit in the lives of most believers.
at several points the Old Testament looks forward to a time when there would be a greater empowering of the Holy Spirit that would reach to all of God’s people. Moses said, “Would that all the LORD’s people were prophets, that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!” (Num. 11:29).
your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.
Even on the male and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit. (Joel 2:28–29)
the disciples present at Pentecost would rightly have expected that powerful evangelistic preaching, deliverance from demonic oppression, physical healing, and perhaps also prophecy, dreams, and visions would all begin and continue among those who believe in Christ, and that these things would be characteristic of the new covenant age that began at Pentecost. A further characteristic of this outpouring of the Holy Spirit was a widespread distribution of spiritual gifts to all people—sons and daughters, young men and old men, menservants and maidservants, in the words of Joel—all received a new
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The Apostolic Church was characteristically a miracle-working church.”
Spiritual gifts are given to equip the church to carry out its ministry until Christ returns.
Another reason for thinking that Paul could have made much longer lists if he had wanted to is the fact that some of the gifts listed will have many different expressions as they are found in different people. Certainly the gift of serving (Rom. 12:6) or helps (1 Cor. 12:28) will take many different forms in different situations and among different people.
(no list includes a gift of intercessory prayer, for instance, which may be related to a gift of faith but is not the same as a gift of faith; no musical gifts are included on any list either; neither is any gift of casting out demons, even though Paul must have known that some Christians were more effective in that area than others).
