Purpose

By Brooke Momblow

 

 

“His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.”  

                                                            2 Peter 1:3-9 NIV

 

God knew you would be living during this time. He knew ahead of time not only when you would be living, he knew where and with whom you’d be living.

 

We are all familiar with Mordecai’s admonishment to Esther “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14 But during this time of Covid, during questions of how to respond to racial issues, national division, and sometimes outright hate for each other, do we believe that we, in our humble positions or high positions, have been born to this time and place for God’s purpose? Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

 

If the Holy Spirit is living in you, God has anointed you to lead as you follow Jesus. “For it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” Philippians 2:13

 

Whether you are a CEO or a stay at home mom, whether you are a business owner or you stock pet food. Your life has meaning and purpose because you were made with purpose. You were made for God’s delight. God made you with a unique design for purposes you alone were meant to accomplish.

We can become discouraged when we look around and see the ways others are gifted and are using their gifts because we can have difficulty identifying what our own gifts are and how to use them. Esther’s position during her time in history seemed to make her purpose so clear. Our purpose is often filled in the details of "our ordinary everyday life, our sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life." Romans 12:1-2 Msg

 

As we grow in all the ways Peter describes in the verses above, we grow in maturity. While we are being faithful to do the work that grows and equips us, God works in us to fulfill his purpose. As we mature, our gifts and specific callings may become clearer to ourselves and to the body of Christ we serve with.

 

There is no need to be discouraged. We have been given everything we need for where we are at and we will be given everything we need as we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit into those places he is calling us to go. He calls us all to lead, to serve, to love, to change our ways, to bring and embody the redemption story of Jesus. 

 

“'Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life which is in Christ Jesus.' 2 Timothy 1:1 When we are in Christ, we have life. One of the things that kills the inner spirit is the feeling that there is no future in what one is doing. In Jesus everything is promising. There is at the heart of every possession a promise. Even the grave has an open end – open to eternal life. I am ‘a child of promise’ – nothing static do I receive – it is just a promise of the ‘to be’. All His promises are life. There is a tingle of expectancy in being in Christ. Every little thing is big with destiny. Every gift is a promise. The future beckons.” E. Stanley Jones, In Christ

 

In The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren outlines the Biblical principles of our purpose:

 

1.       We were planned for God’s pleasure.

2.      We were formed to be part of a body in Christ (God’s Family).

3.      We were created to become like Christ.

4.     We were shaped uniquely for serving God.

5.      We were made for a mission.

 

Think. Pray. Live.

 

o   The details of my life should bring glory to God.

o   Can I expect to take the gospel to the nations if I’m not living it in the fibers of my being, in the little things that make up the whole?

o   Thank you, Jesus for your great and precious promises.

o   God, grant me the courage to venture into those places you’ve called me to go and the wisdom to recognize them.

 

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deuteronomy 31:8

 

“Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore, have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.” Isaiah 50:7

 

“Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 20-21

 

Going Deeper for September 6, 2020

By Pat Russell

 

 

Considering the sermon by Pastor Bruce on September 6, 2020

 

I have often longed to be able to “see” the face of God. By that I mean that I long to experience Him like I experience another person, a presence that is tangible. Not a sense of “Someone there” but in a “human sense – touch, see, smell, taste, hear” kind of experience.

 

One day I was asking the Lord about this and I believe that He gave me this thought which I wrote in my journal, “As I sit here this morning, You say to me, ‘I am a different being.’ I think that I keep trying to make You a human being that I simply cannot see. But You are not. Yes, of course, I know that You are different, but I believe You are saying something about how I as a human being relate to You as non-human… We humans only have the context of human-personal relationship, but You contain the human personal and are also so much more. How can I experience that? Maybe I simply cannot and must find a place of contentment in how I can experience You as I live my human being life.”

 

As God continued to deal with this desire of my heart, I came to this scripture in Exodus 33:12-23 on another day:

 

Moses and the Glory of the Lord

 

¹² Moses said to the Lord, “You have been telling me, ‘Lead these people,’ but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. You have said, ‘I know you by name and you have found favor with me.’ ¹³ If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you. Remember that this nation is your people.”

 

¹⁴ The Lord replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”

 

¹⁵ Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. ¹⁶ How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

 

¹⁷ And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”

 

¹⁸ Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”

 

¹⁹ And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have

compassion. ²⁰ But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”

 

²¹ Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. ²² When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.²³ Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

 

I wrote this in my journal after meditating on this passage: “This was a great lectio for my soul this morning. It is all about Moses’ plea for Your presence and how You handled that. It is so incredible that You hid him in the cleft of the rock, let him see Your goodness and how You protected him by not letting him see Your face.”

 

I thought, “I see God when I see GOODNESS in this world and that is how He meant it to be.” Then I thought how God has allowed us to see HIS face in the face of Jesus the Christ. Jesus is pure Goodness. God contained himself in human form so that we might have that longing met. As Pastor Bruce has quoted many times through this series, “For God, who said, ‘Let there be light in the darkness,’ has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.” (I Cor. 4:6)

 

And yet, total knowledge has yet to have been granted us. That comes with our death. Today Pastor Bruce said, “In this life, however, Paul tells us that we only see Jesus through a glass darkly or only as a reflection in a cloudy mirror. He says, now we only know Jesus partially but then we shall see him face to face.” (I Cor. 13:12) as he paraphrased Scripture for us.

 

As a beautiful conclusion to the theme, “Encounters with Jesus,” Pastor Bruce gave us many examples of human beings who have tasted (and I use that human sensory word intentionally) that glory and then were able to give us a foreshadowing of what is to come, both in Holy Scripture and in human experience form.

 

So, with all of this being written, I ask you to ponder what you heard in the sermon or read in this writing that you would like to contemplate more? Did a particular thought or word of scripture or an example touch your emotions? Why do you think that happened?

 

What do you think about your death? To what do you look forward? What makes you afraid? What do you long for when you see Jesus, face to face? What would you like him to say or do? What do you think you will say or do?

 

Spend some time talking with Him about Your longing.

 

As a benediction to my contemplation on this mystery, I recalled a song from my early church years. Perhaps you know it and would like to sing with these words:

 

He Hideth My Soul

 

A wonderful saviour is Jesus my Lord
A wonderful Saviour to me
He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
Where rivers of pleasure I see

 

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
That shadows a dry, thirsty land
He hideth my life in the depths of his love
And covers me there with his hand
And covers me there with his hand

 

A wonderful Saviour is Jesus my Lord
He taketh my burden away
He holdeth me up and I shall not be moved
He giveth me strength as my day

 

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
That shadows a dry, thirsty land
He hideth my life in the depths of his love
And covers me there with his hand
And covers me there with his hand

 

When clothed in His brightness
Transported I rise
To meet Him in Clouds of the sky
His perfect salvation, His wonderful love
I'll shout with the millions on high

 

He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock
That shadows a dry, thirsty land
He hideth my life in the depths of his love
And covers me there with his hand
And covers me there with his hand

 

Source: Musixmatch

 

Songwriters: William James Kirkpatrick / Patti Drennan / Fanny Crosby

He Hideth My Soul lyrics © Hal Leonard Publishing Corp., Glorysound, A Div. Of Shawnee Press, Inc.

 

Disorientation

By Pat Russell

 

 

This is what I have been feeling these days since we have returned from our July adventure on the road. I can’t get my arms around life or even around one day. I admit that many situations have contributed to my disorientation – house visitors one after the other since we have been back (even though I love them all), fires, drought, COVID-19 still happening at an alarming rate, a dear friend now on hospice, dogs recovering from surgery, unrest in so many areas of the country, a divisive election season, unbelievable news footage of destruction, an aching back, a flooded basement and huge needed repairs including a jack hammer doing its thing right now as I write.

 

Walter Brueggemann, in his book The Message of the Psalms: A Theological Commentary, talks about life as reflected in various Psalms in this way….

 

“Human life consists in satisfied seasons of well-being that evoke gratitude for the constancy of blessing (orientation)… Human life consists in anguished seasons of hurt, alienation, suffering and death. These evoke rage, resentment, self-pity and hatred (disorientation)… Human life consists in turns of surprise when we are overwhelmed with the new gifts of God, when joy breaks through the despair (new orientation).”

 

Our travels across the US in July were definitely a season of “orientation” for me (except, of course, when I lost my glasses). Right now, however, I identify with a season of “disorientation” without all the strong feelings listed above. None the less, the feelings and thoughts that arise in me are negative – confusion, anxiousness, sadness, anger, doubt.

 

So, what do I do while I wait for the “new orientation”? Here is what I have done and will do even this day. First of all, I became aware of my inner condition in these days and acknowledged my present circumstances, feelings and thoughts. I have then declared them “out loud” which is what I have written here. It is like a confession to God and to you, my brothers and sisters.

 

Then, I have sat in quiet reflection in the morning, allowing my body and soul to rest in Him. I read something constructive to my soul including Holy Scripture. This morning I spent time with “In Him all things hold together,” Paul’s words from scripture that Bruce put together for us. I rested in that truth; I’ve been repeating it to myself; I’ve been thinking of all the things that He holds together, including me. I admit my deep need for this grace.

 

This morning I also gazed on the painting from Sunday’s service, The Angelus. I knew a calm that surrounded me in the colors, calling and humility of that scene.

 

On days when I meet with people about their spiritual journeys, I enter into their world and see how they are moving more deeply into Christ and I am so very encouraged.

 

I took a Sabbath rest yesterday, including laying aside all negative thoughts. I communicated with people I love and started a fun mystery.

 

Right now, I am sitting in My Hiding Place, with my dogs, away from the sound of the jackhammer, listening to the wind in the trees and watching the birds and the dance of the leaves.

 

“He restores my soul and leads me in the paths of righteousness.” It is, indeed, a kind of “new orientation” as I go forward into the rest of this day.

 

The Ripple Effect

By Marilyn McGrath

 

I remember a story from Contagious Joy about a woman who went into the beauty shop to have her hair done. She sat down next to an older woman and struck up a conversation. The older woman was troubled and lonely, so she listened to her story and they spoke together for several minutes. She was called for her haircut, said goodbye and went with the hairdresser. When her hair was done and she was leaving, she noticed that the older woman was gone but that there was a note lying on the seat where she had been sitting. The note read, “Thank you for talking with me today. I pray to God, but today, I needed God with skin on.” This older woman needed someone she could see, touch, see the love and compassion in her eyes and the tilt of her head as she leaned in to listen closely.

 

And isn’t that what Jesus was to us, “God with skin on?” One man whose work on earth has had a critical effect on our faith and on our attitude toward and relationship with God. His work has been carried forward for the past 2,000 years and continues today.

 

Romans 15:5 “May God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had.” Who have you been “God with skin on” for this week?

 

John Burke, in his book Imagine Heaven, recounts the stories of people who have gone through near death experiences from the nearly 1,000 accounts he researched. Here is an excerpt from one: “The being of light knew everything about me. It knew everything I had ever thought, said or done, and it showed me my whole life in a flash... all the cause-and-effect relations in my life, all that was good or negative, all of the effects my life on earth had had on others.”

 

Burke writes that “despite vividly seeing all their deeds, good and evil, and all the relational ripple effects of both, they do not experience a Being who desires to condemn. They experience a compassion coming from this Being of Light.”

 

What we say or do not say, what we do or do not do, what we think or refuse to consider is important.

 

We live and move and have our being in Christ. It is in Christ that we do all these things for the Lord. Brother Lawrence said, “I turn these omelets in their little pans for the love of God.”

 

Dearest Lord,

 

I ask you to do a supernatural work of grace in my heart so that I might love people like you do. Grant me the grace to be patient and kind, not envious or proud, filling me with the water that overflows from your infinite fountain of love. In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

(A prayer from Peter Scazzero)

 

Answered Prayer

By Marilyn Travis

 

 

I’ve been delving into my past this afternoon, enjoying reading some of my old diaries and journals. When I was 14 my Grandmother Capron gave me a diary for Christmas. I’m sure she had no idea the impact that gift would have on my life. I wrote every day through my freshman year of college. After that, I continued to journal, but someone named Mitch began to take up quite a bit of my spare time, so I no longer wrote every day. There was also a stretch when Nathan and Laurel were little that I hardly wrote at all!

 

I think I’m on journal number 24 now. My journals are all kept in sealed plastic bags because I have tucked away so many things among their pages. Tickets, pictures, cards, notes and clippings, each hold a special meaning. Among those things tucked away are numerous letters I wrote to myself, though most of them were really prayers. I love to read those letters, because I can see how those prayers were answered over time. It comforts me to see the impact God has had in my life, and how He is woven into and through all the joys, sorrows, fears, accomplishments, highs and lows. He is faithful. I am blessed.

 

On May 22, 1975, near the end of my junior year in high school, I wrote:

 

I just got home from Campus Club (our youth group). Jim (youth pastor) asked us if our lives made an impact on those around us, and though I hated to admit it, mine doesn’t. I have run away from Christ and have been a lukewarm Christian for such a long time, it's really sad. If the second coming came right now, I’m not sure where I would stand. It's about time I faced Christ and worked for Him instead of claiming His love without giving any away. I could write all night trying to convince myself that I am doing enough for God in my life, but I’m not. Lord, help me to become an active Christian. Help me to find something to do this summer that is real, productive, and is your will for me.

 

On June 9, 1975, I wrote:

 

I am now at the church filling in for Rev. Wecks’ secretary. I’m kind of scared right now because I might mess this up, but it shouldn’t be a tough job. I just hope that I don’t blow it or make a stupid mistake on the phone. I am glad at least that I’ll have something to do this week. This is a really busy office and kind of fun. I can catch up on some reading and really serve the Lord. I pray that He will help me to get along alright with the people here.

 

Near the end of August of that year I wrote a note in the margin about how the events of that summer were an answer to prayer. I not only got to help in one of the church offices, I had the opportunity to be a counselor for the Junior High summer camp at Horn Creek Ranch near Westcliffe. I also went on a Doulos (mission) trip with the High School kids to Mendenhall, Mississippi to work with the Voice of Calvary Ministries Coop there. When I asked God to help me find something to do that summer that would be real and productive, He answered!

 

My entry on December 31, 1975:

 

I guess this year was a good one. For me it was... I‘ve really grown in my faith this year by working with the Junior High Kids in their youth group and being a counselor at their camp, representing the youth on the Nominating Committee, Campus Club, Youth Leadership Team, and Evangelism Callers. I also got to join the high school handbell choir and sing in the high school choir at church. I went on a Doulos trip to Mississippi. It was a great experience! I also went to Prom this year and was an exchange student in the league exchange – I went to Canon City.

 

I love my family more than they will ever know. I still have some struggles in my Christian walk, but I have grown tremendously! It really has been a pretty good year. Now I have to get ready for the big one – 1976!

 

When I asked the Lord to find me something to do for the summer, I had no idea how that would grow and continue throughout my Junior and Senior years in high school, and beyond! 1975 and 1976 were years in which my faith grew by leaps and bounds! I’d like to say every year has been like that, but it hasn’t.

 

My Grandmother’s gift was inspired by God. I had no idea at the time that journaling would become such an important activity in my walk with the Lord, but He did!

 

Faith – Bonhoeffer, Schleiermacher, and Barth

By Mike Banta

 

 

Hebrews 11:6 – And without faith it is impossible to please [God], for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

 

This verse has always been unsettling to me. I must ask myself the question, “Do I have faith or not?” The thought that I may not be pleasing to God is frankly terrifying.

 

But as I read this verse more closely, it almost becomes a “Duh!” statement. First, how can you have any kind of relationship with Someone when you believe He does not exist? It would be as ludicrous as me trying to talk to my wife while believing that she is nowhere to be found! Secondly, my faith in God must assume that He is a good God. Yes, He does reward our efforts to seek Him out. I would not want to have a relationship with a capricious and cruel Supreme Being who continually plays “hide and seek” when I reach out to Him in need. There are, of course, many times in our lives when God does seem absent. That is exactly when the second half of this verse becomes so important – when we rely by faith that He rewards those who seek Him.

 

And there is yet more wonderful news – EVERYONE has faith! It is part of the makeup of every human. We all can please God. I think this is what Jesus is saying to his disciples in Luke 17:5-6

 

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and be planted in the sea’, and it would obey you.”

 

In other words, our efforts do not need to be directed at increasing faith. Tiny amounts of faith are effective. The writer of Hebrews defines faith as “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” All of us have some measure of this. There is always something we believe that we have not seen for ourselves.

 

What then becomes most important in our exercise of faith? I believe it is defining for ourselves the object of our faith – what or who do we believe in? I am currently reading a biography of the great German pastor and martyr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and his history illustrates this very well.

 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Bonhoeffer lived in Germany during the rise to power of Hitler and the Nazi party. He decried the complicity of some of the German church with the new regime, and his opposition to Hitler eventually led to his death.

 

Bonhoeffer studied theology in the 1920’s in Berlin, at a time when some of his teachers were disciples of Friedrich Schleiermacher.

 

Freidrich Schleiermacher

 Schleiermacher is known as the father of hermeneutics – the study of scripture in a way to bridge the gap between the original writer and us. This methodology (known as “higher criticism”) applied analysis to scripture based on the historical environment of the writer, as well as the construction of the document itself and its relation to other scripture. Critically, however, Schleiermacher and his disciples began their analysis from the stance that God either did not exist or did not participate in human life. (Schleiermacher famously wrote his pious father proclaiming his inability to have faith in Christ.) Therefore, some startling conclusions became obvious to them:

 

·      The Bible cannot be from God

·      Supernatural events do not happen, therefore events such as the resurrection of Christ could not have occurred

·      Jesus was a man – a good man, a great teacher perhaps – if he even existed

 

This type of thinking was rampant in the German church in the early 20^th century, and I believe helped give rise to the Nazi movement, as much of the German church supported Hitler and his ideas, including anti-Semitism.

 

Bonhoeffer was also exposed to a radically different theological movement – Karl Barth’s reliance on God’s revelation, mercy, and grace. Bonhoeffer met and became friends with Barth. Sometimes called neo orthodoxy, Barth’s theology assumed the opposite of Schleiermacher and his followers – that God exists and is very present and active in human life. The conclusions Barth and other such thinkers came to are the inverse of the higher criticism movement:

 

·      The Bible is revealed truth from God

·      The supernatural is not only possible, but certain, therefore Christ certainly was raised from the dead

·      Jesus is the incarnate Son of God

 

Karl Barth

As a remarkably brilliant young theologian, Bonhoeffer could effectively speak with both camps. He effectively yet respectfully would counter his teachers’ conclusions. He often confounded them with his outlook and wisdom. It was no secret to anyone that he chose Barth’s outlook rather than Schleiermacher’s. He had faith that God exists and that He has always been active with humanity. This helped set the course of his life to oppose the Nazified church of the Germans, and to actively fight Hitler. His faithful and indomitable stance eventually led to his execution at the hands of the Nazis in the final days of World War II.

 

Bonhoeffer could have placed his faith in the presupposition of Schleiermacher’s approach to hermeneutics: a belief that God does not exist in a relatable way. This may seem to be a decision that does not require “conviction of things not seen.” But believing God does not exist requires at least as much faith (if not more!) than believing He does. There has never been a science experiment that negates the existence of God.

 

The choice to believe that God exists, and rewards those who seek, changes everything. It makes nature come alive, as the hand-signed artwork of our Creator. The Bible becomes deeply meaningful to us as we seek out truths from its pages. The Holy Spirit within us can speak revelation to us, for we know He is there. We find strength far beyond ourselves, whence we endure the greatest trials of life. We are empowered to do that which is otherwise impossible.

 

Lord, rather than asking for more faith, I ask You to reveal to me where my faith is placed. If my faith is not directed toward You in any way, I ask You to teach me to focus my belief on You. I invite You to reveal Yourself to me in Your Scripture, in nature, and by Your Holy Spirit. May Your precious presence give me love and strength in new measure. Amen.

 

Going Deeper for August 30, 2020

By Pat Russell

 

 

Considering the sermon by Pastor Bruce on August 30, 2020

 

This week if you desire to spend some time deepening your walk with Christ, to experience what being “in Christ” means in your life, I suggest two directions.

 

The first direction involves spending time with the painting, The Angelus. The second direction involves spending time with the Scripture list that Pastor Bruce presented to us from the writings of Paul. Here are a few guidelines and questions that you might choose to use:

 

1.       When you first look at this painting, what strikes you as meaningful? Spend some time thinking about why that is meaningful to you.

 

2.      Look the painting over carefully. What did you miss? Why do you think the artist included that in the painting? What does the title mean to you?

 

3.      What is the mood of this painting? How does the mood of this painting speak to your spirit?

 

4.     Recall what Chuck Orwiler said about a call to remind us that “the Lord is God.” How does that minister to your soul in these disturbing days? Can you think of anything you could use in your life to remind you that “the Lord is God”?

 

Talk with God about what you have thought and felt in this meditation. Pause at the end for a few moments of quiet gratitude.

 

The Angelus by French painter Jean-François Millet

The second direction involves Paul’s Scripture passages about being “in Christ” which Pastor Bruce divided into 6 sections. Perfect for a daily meditation starting today! (I plan to do this). Here is a way to absorb these words into your soul. This is called Lectio Divina – reading divine – allowing God to speak to you through his Word:

 

1.       Sit in a quiet location. Breath in deeply, asking God to quiet your body.

 

2.      Take a section and read through it slowly and gently. Reread it again until a particular word or phrase catches your attention.

 

3.      Take that word or phrase and repeat it slowly with a prayerful heart. Recognize the thoughts, the feelings (positive or negative), the memories, the images, aspirations that come to your heart. This is not about analyzing the word or phrase; this is about allowing the Word to become living and active in your being (Heb 4:12).

 

4.     Now, talk with God about what has been brought to your mind. Speak honestly. Pray until you have nothing more to express.

Lastly, return to stillness with God. Let your thoughts and feelings rest softly in God’s hands in a few moments of gratefulness.

 

Some of the 153 Times Paul uses “in Christ” or a variation of that phrase in his New Testament letters. Arranged by topic.

 

1.  The Person of Christ

 

In Christ Jesus the fullness of God was pleased to dwell. 

The whole fullness of deity dwells in Him.

In Him all things in heaven and earth were created.

In Him all things hold together.

In Him all things in heaven and earth are brought into unity.

In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

And in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself. 

 

2.  The Blessings of Our Salvation in Christ

 

We have been enriched in every way in Christ.

God has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

We have been raised up with him and seated with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.

God has shown the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time.

In Christ we have redemption, the forgiveness of sin, according to the riches of his grace.

We are justified in Christ.

We are made the righteousness of God in Him.

There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

In Christ we have access to God with boldness.

I was found in Christ not having a righteousness of my own but having a righteousness from God based on faith.

In Christ we have obtained an inheritance.

We have been sealed with the promised Holy Spirit.

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

We were formerly darkness and now are light in the Lord.

We were chosen in Him.

We have come to fullness in Him.

We are glorified in Him. 

 

3.  Our Life in Christ

 

We live our lives in Him. 

We are taught in Him.

We are weak in Him.

We trust in Him.

We are now dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and of death.

Give thanks in all circumstances knowing that this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Forgive one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.

The Holy Scriptures, which are able to make us wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 

Christ Jesus has become for us wisdom from God.

We have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God's people.

In Christ Jesus, nothing matters except faith expressing itself in love.

All who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

Rejoice in the Lord.

Stand firm in the Lord.

Be strong in the Lord.

We are created in Christ Jesus for good works and our work in the Lord is never in vain.

We die in Christ.

Our life is hidden with Christ in God.

The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

4.  The Assurances We Have in Christ

 

The peace of God which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

And God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.

Nothing will separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In Christ Jesus we have the promise of life.

In Him all the promises of God are “Yes.”

In Christ Jesus we are all children of God through faith.

 

5.  The Church of Jesus Christ

 

You are rooted and built up in Him.

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.

In Christ you are being built together into a dwelling place for God.

In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.

In Christ we, though many, are one body and members one of another.

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

In Himself he makes one new humanity.

In the Lord, men can’t do without women nor can women do without men.

Elders and teachers care for people and admonish them in the Lord.

Those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and great boldness in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations. Amen.

 

6.  Paul’s Own Ministry in Christ

 

The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 

In Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as those sent from God, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.

Paul spoke the truth in Christ.

I am in chains for Christ.

Most of the brothers and sisters are more confident in the Lord because of my imprisonment.

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Timothy was Paul’s beloved and faithful child in the Lord.

You then, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

My love be with all of you in Christ Jesus.

 

Amen.