Cross City Church

In Chapter 2, Paul begins to address those who claim to know God, but rely on their own self-righteousness. He reminds them that God is an impartial judge and calls them to repentance.

God’s wrath on our rebellion is evident and willfully embraced until Christ, through the Gospel frees us through repentance  and trust in the work of Christ for our needed righteousness.

Since the beginning of humanity, we have been warned by God through the presence of his demonstrations of wrath that our denial and negligence of him are a capital offense. We are dishonoring him and in active collaboration in suppressing the truth from others.

The Resurrection asks to the question: "Will you truly listen to Jesus, the one the Father affirmed to you by raising him from the dead?”

God has chosen to place his saving power in the message of the Gospel itself.  The gospel message, promises and world view is our open treasure… or else it is clearly not and in it we newly find the righteousness we have always needed.

Jesus has dealt graciously with Paul and his fellow apostles and blessed them with the role of being his official emissaries to call the people all the nations to obedience and submission to King Jesus as part of rightfully lifting up the superiority of Christ over everything.

The authority of God is fully behind the scriptures He has provided for us as He gave them through prophets and apostles, despite these people’s imperfections and sin.  If we want to know truth and God’s heart…. Then we cannot find it apart from reading the Scriptures

In this passage, we find an account of transformation, as the resurrection of Jesus moves His disciples from sorrow to joy. By understanding their need, growing in biblical knowledge, and walking in faith – these men are changed in ways that reveal Christ as the source of their faith, wisdom, & satisfaction.

We are called by Christ to fully embrace the long-game work of redemptive history and place all our value and hope and investment in how he promises to richly bless us when he returns.

The essence and fullness of the Old Testament and New Testament call on all of humanity is simple. It is to love God with all our heart, soul and muchness. Anything else is falling short of the glory of God, which we have all done but, thanks to Christ, not longer must continue in it.

Christ calls us and equips us to wait expectantly for his return and the Spirit will lead us forward into his mission and worship until he comes.

Ephesians 1:11-14

Prayer is our direct access to the Father. If we rely on our own power, our prayers will be sporadic, self-centered, and distracted. With the help of the Spirit, our times of prayer can become consistent, God-centered, and focused on His will.

Christians are made a new creation by God when we put our faith in Jesus. We love and worship him, and are propelled on his mission to love his family and proclaim his excellencies to the world.

God has called us to be his people and to live as his family. We, now, seek to live in light of this family identity that he has given us.

In Titus 3 we see how God establishes us as his people through his gracious work in us, and now, how we live as his people is shaped by who he says we are.

Paul closes out his second letter to Timothy by exalting in God’s faithfulness to him in his time of most need.

In order for us to persevere in ministry we need the help of other believers and even more so, our affections must be deeply rooted in Jesus.

Joy To The World, Let Earth Receive Her King – Jesus was born to be king, and we find that the kingdom of the beloved son is better than the domain of darkness. He is worthy of all our worship!

Jesus is our perfect high priest and is able to sympathize with our every need

Expounding on Romans 5:6-11, Mark peaches the good news of reconciliation, as sung about in the classic Christmas carol, “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”, for the purpose of deepening worship of the Lord.

Jesus’ followers are called to imitate Him. So we lovingly incarnate into the lives of others through relevant relationships. It’s the work He gave us, making disciples.

The life offered us in the Gospel is radically different. It is a new, moment by moment relationship with Christ where we actively live and interact with Him by the power of His Spirit through the Word and prayer. There alone is glory is given, joy found , love experienced and any true fruit is produced

As Paul closes out his second letter to Timothy, he celebrates his life and ministry and points to God’s grace in his present, past, and future.

In the end, each soul will be ruled by God’s passions found in His Word or they will be committed and ruled by their own earthly passions.