http://www.breacenterchurch.org Brea Center Baptist Church Podcasts en Brea Center Baptist Church Podcasts Brea Center Baptist Church no Brea Center Baptist Church glenn@disciplemaking.net ℗ & © 2009 Brea Center Baptist Church 720 Paul now finds himself before the Tribune and asks to speak to the Jews that are gathered against him (for they have accused him of defaming the temple). Paul clears his name being associated with a Jewish assassin group that tried to overthrow the roman rule a couple of years earlier. Paul then speaks to his people in their language detailing his conviction of sin (1-5), conversion to Christ (22:6-16), and calling to bring the gospel to the entire world (22:17-21). The Jews get so angry that they don't let Paul finish his speech and want his life. The entire process is expedited by the roman Tribune who desire to flog him, but don't because they eventually realize that paul is a Roman citizen by birth. This whole narrative shows that Christians will know God's will with uncommon character because of God's faithfulness. You can see evidence of God's faithfulness all around your life, just as Paul was proclaiming in this passage. Man tends to become unfaithful when things don't go his way, but God remains faithful. Knowing and trusting the character of God's faithfulness will give you strength and allow you to know and do God's will. http://www.sermoncloud.com/brea-center-baptist-church/acts-2137-2230-common-ground--uncommon-confidence http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/362/acts-2117-2230-common-ground--uncommon-confidence.mp3 Sun, 26 Jul 2009 18:21:20 UTC Glenn Leatherman Acts god's_will,will,god,faithfulness,character 57:38 Paul has finally arrived in Jerusalem after his 3rd missionary journey. He relates the works of God among the Gentiles to James and the elders, but then James informs him of a group of Jews that believe roomers that Paul is castigating the Moses and the Law in such a way that it is offensive to Jewish sensibilities. Paul agrees with the elders to submit with 4 other men in the process of a Nazarite cleansing ceremony and offerings, but before he is able to finish this ceremonial cleansing, the people pull Paul out to accuse him of teaching against the people and the law. Paul is beaten for doing what is right, and Eventually the authorities (the tribune – v. 31) have to step in to stop the beating of Paul by arresting him and imprisoning him. Paul did not compromise his convictions concerning the gospel as some people believe, but was able to accommodate to Jewish sensibilities (He became a Jew to win the Jews (1 Cor. 9:20) He did not allow his freedom to tear down weaker brothers. The Jews in this chapter are the weaker Christians and the Gentiles the Stronger. In Acts 15 the Jerusalem counsel including James decided that the Gentiles did not need to keep the Jewish laws in order to be saved. Here in Acts 21, Paul is showing us that in a Jewish culture that one should be accommodating to weaker brothers when it doesn't involve denying the Gospel. You don't need to compromise your beliefs, but you can accommodate weaker brothers in Christ. One should always remember that even if accommodation is the right thing to do, it doesn't guarantee that everything will turn out right. Christians will suffer for doing what is Right, just don't compromise for the sake of unity – stick to your convictions. http://www.sermoncloud.com/brea-center-baptist-church/acts-2117-36-no-compromise http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/362/acts-2117-36-no-compromise.mp3 Sun, 12 Jul 2009 09:37:31 UTC Glenn Leatherman Acts weaker_brothers,accommodating,paul,law,jersulem,acts,leatherman,paul,christ,accommodation,compromise 55:10 Paul has finally arrived in Jerusalem after his 3rd missionary journey. He relates the works of God among the Gentiles to James and the elders, but then James informs him of a group of Jews that believe roomers that Paul is castigating the Moses and the Law in such a way that it is offensive to Jewish sensibilities. Paul agrees with the elders to submit with 4 other men in the process of a Nazarite cleansing ceremony and offerings, but before he is able to finish this ceremonial cleansing, the people pull Paul out to accuse him of teaching against the people and the law. Paul is beaten for doing what is right, and Eventually the authorities (the tribune – v. 31) have to step in to stop the beating of Paul by arresting him and imprisoning him. Paul did not compromise his convictions concerning the gospel as some people believe, but was able to accommodate to Jewish sensibilities (He became a Jew to win the Jews (1 Cor. 9:20) He did not allow his freedom to tear down weaker brothers. The Jews in this chapter are the weaker Christians and the Gentiles the Stronger. In Acts 15 the Jerusalem counsel including James decided that the Gentiles did not need to keep the Jewish laws in order to be saved. Here in Acts 21, Paul is showing us that in a Jewish culture that one should be accommodating to weaker brothers when it doesn't involve denying the Gospel. You don't need to compromise your beliefs, but you can accommodate weaker brothers in Christ. One should always remember that even if accommodation is the right thing to do, it doesn't guarantee that everything will turn out right. Christians will suffer for doing what is Right, just don't compromise for the sake of unity – stick to your convictions. http://www.sermoncloud.com/brea-center-baptist-church/acts-2117-36-no-compromise http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/362/no-compromise-acts-2117-36.wmv Sun, 12 Jul 2009 09:37:28 UTC Glenn Leatherman Acts weaker_brothers,accommodating,paul,law,jersulem,acts,leatherman,paul,christ,accommodation,compromise 55:10 Conflict is a common issue in any church or ministry. In the Philippian church, 2 strong ladies were engaged in some sort of dispute that was public enough to reach the ears of the Apostle Paul in jail. Paul interrupted his letter here to encourage them to find a solution and encourage others to see them as true believers whose names were written in the "book of life." In the bible, there are 2 books of life - 1) the book of the living - a book that you can be blotted out of and 2) the book of eternal life - a book that you cannot be blotted out of. In light of this, Paul says to us that there are to needs you have to garrison your life. The first need is to know that this garrison in your life is a garrison of peace. Here, Paul encouraged the women - Euodia and Syntyche - to reconcile and called alone a true companion to assist in the reconciliation process. Secondly, Paul tells us how to build this "garrison of peace" in our lives by giving several imperatives for peaceful living. These imperatives include: 1) Rejoice always, 2) Be Gentle, 3) Don't Worry, 4) Pray 5) Trust in Peace. There is a marvelous progression that Paul's imperatives bring, and what grace they would mean for the Philippians and us as they are implemented. http://www.sermoncloud.com/brea-center-baptist-church/building-a-garrison-of-peace http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/362/philippians-42-7-building-a-garrison-of-peace.mp3 Sun, 03 Aug 2008 23:07:15 UTC Glenn Leatherman Philippians - Basic for Believers garrison,peace,worry,trust,christ,philippians,conflict,dispute,reconcile,reconciliation,book_of_life,prayer,rejoice,joy,gentleness,reasonableness 54:00 Paul was in hard pursuit of a life glorified Jesus, and he wanted his readers to stand firm as he has expressed in Philippians 1:27 in that same pursuit. Standing firm is not always easy when one has to deal with the new atheism, a truncated Gospel, pluralistic religions and worldviews, etc. Even when Paul wrote to Timothy he called the church the "pillar and buttress of truth (1 Tim. 3:15). When the truth of the Gospel is faithfully proclaimed someone is going to get hurt at times. In standing firm, you cannot stand still. Christianity is a fight for your life. The Christian is like flying an airplane - you are either moving forward or you are crashing and burning. In order to stand firm without standing still, Paul calls us to the disciplemaking of imitation, to flee apostasy, to the assurance of heaven. We must stand firm in our pursuit of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Standing firm is not standing still. http://www.sermoncloud.com/brea-center-baptist-church/philippians-317-41-stand-firm http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/362/philippians-317-41-stand-firm.mp3 Sun, 27 Jul 2008 22:31:07 UTC Glenn Leatherman Philippians - Basic for Believers heaven,apostacy,faith,orthodoxy,christ,puruse,standing_firm,stand,standing,imitation,mentoring,disciplemaking 55:35 People are always promising something better and new. Paul was concerned about the Philippian church's ability to recongnize and refute these religous wolfs. He had already told this church to LOOK OUT for dogs, evil doers, and for those who mutilate the flesh. He nows give us an unparalleled description of his human achievements before he met Christ. He give this to show that noone has any reason for spiritual jealousy, because if he cannot bost in his achievements no one can. He tell them there is no reason for jealousy because we cannot depend on self-righteousness that come from privilege, race, nationality or any other inherited privilige. Secondly there is no reason for jealousy because we cannot depnd on our personal achievemtns to make us spiritual before God. Thirdly, there is no reason for jealousy because all that is gained in this life is not worth the value he place on a relationship with Christ. Finally, there is no jealousy becasue we depend on another's (Christ's) righteousness and not our own. As Christians we should loke for those who constant confidence is Jesus Christ, who constant boast is Jesus Chrsit, and whose constant delight is Jesus Christ and emulate then and nothing else. http://www.sermoncloud.com/brea-center-baptist-church/philippians-34-9-no-jealousy http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/362/philippians-34-9-no-jealousy.mp3 Sun, 06 Jul 2008 22:05:19 UTC Glenn Leatherman Philippians - Basic for Believers christ,god,law,faith,worth,loss,gain,self-righteousness,philippians,jealousy,acheivement,achievements,privilege,righteousness 54:00 God is going to get the glory either in our salvation or in judgment (see Rom. 14). Now that Paul has raised this high Christology he gets practical how what we do in living humbly. Paul gives moree explicit directive as to what it means to live humbly and how we must live out a humble live in the midst of community. We are commanded here to work out our salvation (sanctification) which is our responsibility, but in a way that give God the credit for working in us. This is not a matter of synergism between me and God in which he did his part and I did mine. This responsibility to work out our salvation is a monergtistic work of God. God doesn't help those who help themselves but helps those who cannot help themselves. It is his power (see 2 Peter 1:1-4) that gives and grows our faith. The amazing thing about these verses is that they refer primarily to working out our salvation within the church, the body of Christ rather than as individuals. And for that reason Paul goes on in verse 14ff to say that the way we work our ours slavation is to not be complainers or to not constant questioners. The complainer is committing a major sin according to Paul, becasue we are to examples to the crooked and twisted generation of what considering each other more important entails. We shine when we humble ourselves in our witness to this world For these reasons Paul is joyful and commands the Philippians and us to rejoice with a humble spirit in living in community - working out our salvation together in the power of Christ. http://www.sermoncloud.com/brea-center-baptist-church/philippians-212-18-working-out-a-common-salvation http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/362/philippians-212-18-working-out-our-common-salvation.mp3 Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:53:38 UTC Glenn Leatherman Philippians - Basic for Believers workout,power,salvation,sanctification,fear,trembling,god's_work,holy_spirit,joy,complaining,complainer,ciriticism,humility,witness,evangelism 55:10 The best way to see the exaltation of Christ is to view it on the backdrop of his humiliation in heaven, in incarnation, and in death. Humiliation does not mean embarrassment, slavish service, wimpiness, lack of boldness or ambition or the prideful pursuit of spirituality. We see that in this text that God exaltation of Christ is past (v. 9) and future (vv. 10-11). In the past God super exalted Christ at the right hand of the Father to the glory he had before the world was created. The Lamb of God is worthy and is given a name that everyone above every name with is LORD or Yahweh. Because of God past super exaltation of Christ and because he has been given the name Yahweh or LORD all people should (not shall) bow the knee and confess Christ in salvation. This verse is usually quoted incorrectly in a universalistic fashion making it say that everyone will worship God, but we know that Romans 14:10-12 includes everyone will bow in judgment but not in salvation. You should consider how you will approach Christ either in salvation with knees bowed and tong confessing or in Judgment with knees bowed. http://www.sermoncloud.com/brea-center-baptist-church/philippians-29-11-from-humility-to-super-exaltation http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/362/philippians-29-11-from-humility-to-super-exaltation.mp3 Sun, 01 Jun 2008 20:13:59 UTC Glenn Leatherman Philippians - Basic for Believers romans_14:10-12,philippians,lord,spirituality,humiliation,humility,super-exaltation,exalation,confession,bow,lordship,yehweh 51:25 The Life we live matters. Today when people want to define what an Evangelical is we often forget that the Lordship of Christ extends to everyone area of our lives. We tend to focus on here and now when as Christians we should focus on our heavenly citizenship. We are heirs of the King, but far too often we seek the benefits of this world rather than the heavenly kingdom of which we claim we want to spend eternity. Why would anyone want to have a heavenly citizenship without holiness is just a reflection of how anemic and weak American Christianity is today. In this passage Paul gives us 3 avenues that will help redirect our loyalties toward the heavenly kingdom. They include: 1) The Call to live as worthy Citizens (27a), 2) The Distinctives of Worthy Citizens (27b-28), and 3) The Grace of Worthy Citizenship. For Paul the Gospel of Christ is first. The gospel must be the center pole of all that we do and any philosophy of ministry we have. The call to be a heavenly citizen is a call to salvation and be a disciple of Christ. Paul also shows how allegiance, spiritual steadfastness, teamwork, and fearlessness are character changes that will speak volumes to an outside world and to the Christian community about the supremacy of the Heavenly Kingdom. Finally Paul shows us that believing and suffering are given to us in our heavenly citizenship. The Philippians were all recipients of grace as they hade been given the gifts of salvation (believing) and suffering. If we only see grace to be only pleasant benefits and blessings then suffering will be seen to be anything but grace. This must be combated because it leads people away from the true God and the true Gospel. http://www.sermoncloud.com/brea-center-baptist-church/philippians-127-30-heavenly-citizens http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/362/philippians-127-30-heavenly-citizenship.mp3 Sun, 11 May 2008 18:24:49 UTC Glenn Leatherman Philippians - Basic for Believers heaven,citizen,citizenship,worthy,teamwork,steadfastness,gospel,heavenly_citizenship,salvation,suffering,grace 45:17 Paul puts the Gospel first in ministry because for him to life is Christ and to die is gain. Everyone lack confidence but when it comes to the worship of God a lack of confidence is either from sinfulness or ignorance. Why do we cherish or treasure things that don’t make God great? Paul’s answer was that we center our living on the false, fake, limited, and/or powerless things. For Paul Christian ministry must get back to a cross Center life that gives the greatest confidence. This Cross centered worship give us confidence that results from 1) Confidence in the Final vindication (18b-20), 2) Confidence in Life or death (21-24), and 3) Confidence for ministry to others (25-26). Focusing on the cross in Gospel worship gives us confidence that we will be vindicated in the last judgment. It did not matter what other did to him, he was on a ultimate mission. No matter what postmoderns say today, we can have certainty about things even thought knowledge of reality may sometimes be partial. It is ludicrous to say that you are certain that you are not certain. You don’t have to be omniscient to be certain about reality because our resources are outside of our selves – i.e. revelation and the supply of the Holy Spirit. Personal conversion and commitment are what is needed to the revelation that is given to supply our certainty. Confidence for Paul also came because of how he value life and death as profit for him. It did not matter because for Paul the apex of his values in his life and worship was Christ alone. Worship that brings confidence is radically God-centered, radically satisfying, and radically an end in itself. This freed Paul to have confidence to minister to others and it will give a great confidence to. http://www.sermoncloud.com/brea-center-baptist-church/philippians-118b-26-a-certain-confidence http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/362/philippians-118b-26-a-certain-confidence.mp3 Sun, 04 May 2008 18:18:31 UTC Glenn Leatherman Philippians - Basic for Believers gospel_worship,glory,gain,profit,life,death,god-centered_worship,worship,god-centered,cross-centered,confidence,judgement,vindication,certainity 47:21 Paul bases his affection on the Philippians on the confidence He has in God's work in their lives. The doctrine known as "The Perseverance of the Saints" (or "Eternal Security") is an essential orthodox belief that if adamantly rejection will destroy the Gospel of Grace and create another religion foreign to the teachings of Christ. Paul's affection was not motivated by merely earthly emotions but by Christ’s love for his people. We find in these few verses 3 sources for the affections that Paul had for the Philippians: 1) Affections in the center of his heart, 2) Affections of fellowship, and 3) Affections of Christ Himself. We must learn that our confident affections for others stem from knowing that their salvation (and ours) doesn't rest in their (or our) grip on God, but on God's grip on them (us). You will need to look at these verses and ask yourself: Is my faith a genuine saving faith in Christ - one that is authored by Him, sustained by Him, and will one day be completed by Him. Your answer to that question should convict you know how sinful it is not to have been possessed with the affection of Christ for each other as Paul was. http://www.sermoncloud.com/brea-center-baptist-church/philippians-17-8-sources-of-joyful-affection http://media.monkserve.com/EKK/362/philippians-17-8-sources-of-joyful-affection.mp3 Sun, 13 Apr 2008 05:28:43 UTC Glenn Leatherman Philippians - Basic for Believers affection,sources,christ,heart,philippians,love,saving_faith,eternal_security,perseverance_of_the_saints,fellowship,partakers,fellowshipers,suffering_grace,grace,suffering,longing 52:36