The Doctrine of Limited Atonement/Particular Redemption

The Doctrine of Limited Atonement/Particular Redemption: A rich man walks into a doughnut shop and sees a bunch of doughnuts that are all equally nasty looking, stale, cold, and rotten. He has enough money to buy all the doughnuts, but he just wants a dozen doughnuts of the 50 that are left. So he picks 13 that he wants: $13.50 after tax. He throws down a $100 bill for the 13 doughnuts he picked. He could have bought all the doughnuts, but he just buys the 13 he wants and went in to get. No more, no less, even though he could have paid for them all. His $100 doesn't buy him all of them because he only wanted 13. He just pays for the doughnuts he picks.

The Doctrine of the Irresistibility of the Holy Spirit

The Doctrine of the Irresistibility of the Holy Spirit: To think that one could resist the Holy Spirit working in one's heart to save them is like a guy sinking to the bottom of the ocean who thinks he can hold back the seas all around, under, above, and below him with his bare hands. Needless to say, the man is getting wet, for no man's power can overcome the power of the Omnipotent Spirit. If the Spirit wants to save you, He will come at you from all sides. No man's struggle can hold the Spirit at bay.

Present in our Pain He Planned for our Best and His Glory (John 11.1-46ish)

A devotional thought: Jesus often has a bigger purpose that we understand when He brings about utterly painful hardships in our lives, but that does not mean He does not love us, nor does it mean that He does not care or feel our pain right along with us, just ask John when he recalls what Jesus did and said when Lazarus got sick and died. He says that Jesus new what was going to happen and refused to heal Lazarus because it was ultimately for God's glory and for His disciples faith (John 11.4, 14-15). But He did love Mary and Martha even though He planned for them to experience some intense pain, and even Lazarus who would die (verse 5). It is easy for us to be like Mary and Martha when we go through some intense hardship. They knew Jesus could have solved the problem, but they also knew that He did not. They seemed to think that Jesus didn't care and blamed Him for their brothers death. You can still hear their confused sobs bleed through the pages of John 11, "Lord, if you would have been here my brother wouldn't be DEAD! (v.21 and v.32)" in other words, "You could have stopped this!!!" There words hide the same question our words do; "How could You do this? Why would You want this? Don't You care about me, about us?" He also see them crying, just as He sees us in our troubled tears and pain-filled hearts. But Jesus' response is what shocks us, because this is the same Guy who planned this whole situation--what does He do? He cares. He cares hardcore. "He became deeply moved and He felt His emotions swirl inside Himself" (v.33). Then as He sees all their tears, "Jesus burst into tears" (v.34-35). He cries, and He cries hardcore. He will then go and raise Larazus from the dead, ultimately bring to pass His perfect plan from the beginning, which was that the sickness would not result in death but be for God's glory, so that the Son of God would be glorified through it" (v.4). But not before we suffer and He suffers with us. Our suffering and His suffering with us confirms that He does love us! For indeed how much He must love us if He who planned all the bad stuff to happen also cares about how we experience it, so the point that He Himself shares in our pain and feels all the churning emotions that we feel. Jesus is with us in our pain and He is using that pain not just to bolster our faith but also to bring the Glory to Whom it belongs. Therefore, we should be encouraged that no matter how much pain Jesus Christ plans to come our way, it is for His purposes and He will not leave us in the mess alone, without sympathy. He Himself will feel what we feel. This is still true. Jesus gets what we are going through and cares deeply for us, no matter what happens. But He cares too much about us to leave our faith where it was at and He care too much about His Father's glory and even His own glory to not send our way what much be for His Glory and our best. Take courage, youth group, we suffer, but we don't suffer alone and we don't suffer without purpose. We are part of a plan that brings God the glory and us deeper and better faith! I love you all very much.

Grace and Peace and Comfort be yours in Jesus Christ
Pastor Anthony

"Friends with Benefits"? Hardly...

Being with Jesus is not like "friends with benefits" where you can go in and out of having anything to do with Jesus, getting the perks when you want them and not when you don't, because being with Jesus it's either all or nothing. You are either with Him or you're not. You're either totally committed forever or you're not. But when you're with Him its more awesome than you ever imagined.

The Doctrine of Perseverance in a Nutshell

The Doctrine of Perseverance: A person trusting in Christ is like a woman at a wedding 5 min before it starts, if she has the wedding dress on, she's probably the bride, if not, probably not, but if she's the bride she can't call it off , & Jesus won't. If you really trust in Jesus, you can't unsave yourself and He won't not save you, but if your faith's not got the associated actions, you're probably not with Jesus.

Hope in the Face of Hopelessness is Found in the Face of Jesus (Luke 23.42-43)

A devotional thought: Jesus is really good at delivering people from hopeless situations, just ask the criminal on the cross. Jesus is DYING and the man says, "Remember me", so the DYING Jesus tells the dying man, "Today you will be WITH ME in Paradise." So when hope is lost we can still hope in Christ. So when it looks like it is ove...r for us, we should be like the one criminal who who begged Christ for Help, from whom he received hope in the hopelessness that was in his face. Jesus is our Hope in hopeless situations (Luke 23.42-43).

Purity

I Corinthians 6.12-20

¹² All things are allowed for me, but not all things are beneficial. All things are allowed for me, but I will not be ruled by anything. ¹³ The foods for the belly and the belly for the foods, but God will wipe out this thing both this [belly] and those [foods]. But the body is not for sexually sin, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ But also God raised the Lord and He will raise*** you out through His power. ¹⁵ Don’t you know that your bodies are body-parts of Christ? So*** then should I make the body-parts of Christ the body-parts of a prostitute/sexually sinful woman? May that never happen! Don’t you know that the man who attaches himself to the prostitute/sexual sinful woman is one body [with her], because it says*** “The two will become one flesh.” ¹⁷ But the guy who attaches himself to the Lord is one Spirit***. ¹⁸ Flee the sexual sin! Every sin whatever a man might do is outside of the body, but the person who sin-sexually sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or don’t you know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit in you, whom you have from God, and so you are not belonging to yourselves? ²⁰ For you were bought at a cost, therefore, glorify God in your body!

Ephesians 5.1-5
¹ Therefore, become copycats of God like loved on children ² and be walking around in love, just like the Messiah also loved us and gave himself up for us as an offering and sacrifice to God resulting in a good aroma. ³ But sexual-sin and every impurity or greed had better not even be named among you, just like it is proper for saints, ⁴ and shamefulness and foolish-talking or inappropriate-joking, which don’t belong, but rather thankfulness. ⁵ Because you are knowing this, namely that every sexually-sinful person or impure person or greedy person, that is an idolater, he doesn't have an inheritance in the kingdom of the Messiah and God.

Matthew 5.27-29
²⁷ You’ve heard that it was said “Don’t commit adultery.” ²⁸ But I myself tell you that every man who looks at a woman so that he wants her already committed adultery with her in his heart. ²⁹ And if your right eye trips you up, gouge it out and through away from you, because it is better for you that one of your body-parts would be destroyed and your whole body not thrown into hell.

Pedagogical Idea: Be Pure not impure in all of its various manifestations.

Truths (Book)

1. Impurity is that which dirties you in God’s site, sin. However, this is a type of sin that while not exclusive to sexual immorality is certainly closely affiliated with it.

2. Sexual-sin/Sexual immorality here looks especially at prostitution (in I Cor.) and to sexual-sin more broadly (in Eph.).

3. Temple = Temple Sanctuary, not just the Temple Complex, or the building, but especially the place where God lives—like a Holy of Holies in you!

4. Obligation and Motivation to purity is our redemption in Christ by God through the Spirit.

5. This stuff does not belong anywhere close to your Christian life.

6. Having this stuff be a large part of your life indicates a lack of salvation and a worship of something other than God.

7. Impurity may feel natural, but it is not what God wants for you, and it is not fulfilling to your real purpose, despite how amazing it might feel during the experience.

8. Sexual acts, especially full-blown sex, are high-consequence actions, a lot happens in such things.

Applications (Look)

1. To Kids:

a. Impurity makes God’s Temple dirty, so you need to keep it clean. This means that you have to do some things and not other things—crushes, Justin Beiber, don’t play spin the bottle

2. To Youth:

a. There is a lot that you have to deal with from every side:, sex, porn, masturbation, lust, crushes

Took:

1. Do all things to glorify God, and be pure, but purity starts with Christ.