Look inside this book.Where the Bush is Burning: A Daily Devotional by [Thomas Tice]

Tag: Ephesians 4
One Hope

One Hope

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There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.

Ephesians 4:4

What is the premier hope of the saint?  Before we discuss what it is, we should consider what it is not.  As those who are call saints, which is what Paul identifies as our calling, heaven is not our highest hope.  Heaven would not be heaven if we remain unchanged.  Our greatest hope cannot be merely escaping hell.  Escaping hell is desirable, but there has to be more to redemption than that.  The premier hope of the person whom Paul identifies as having received the calling of being a saint must, of necessity, be related to Christ.  This brings us to the end goal of redemption.  If we were utterly condemned, breakers of the law of God by nature and by choice, liable to eternal punishment because of that state and condition, and God has done a work of Grace to bring us from spiritual deadness to life in Christ, where is He going with us?  The end result of the work of Grace in the life of anyone, is to bring us into likeness to Christ.  That means that we become like Him in every way open to redeemed humanity.  This is our premier hope.  All the other hopes are secondary to becoming like Christ.  Becoming like Christ prepares us to dwell with Him forever, and that is heaven.

Our Gracious Master and Our God,
we rejoice that You are the God of hope.
We praise You that the hope that You have given us
evermore brings us to Christ.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Preparing for Worship

Preparing for Worship

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9:30 am Worship Service
10900 Huron Street
Northglenn, CO
Communion Sunday

Remember Daylight Savings – gaining an hour!

Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-13

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. and he gave some, apostles, and some, prophets, and some evangelists, and some, pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.

Sermon: One Spirit – Tomm Tice

  1. Who is this One Spirit?
  2. Who has this One Spirit?
  3. What does this One Spirit do?

Catechism: Westminster Shorter Catechism Question #93

Which are the sacraments of the New Testament?

The sacraments of the New Testament are, baptism, and the Lord’s Supper.

Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you. That the Lord Jesus the same right in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord’s death till he come.

Worship

Be Thou My Vision
Psalm 100
When I Survey
One Spirit

One Spirit

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There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling.

Ephesians 4:4

What truly unifies those who have the calling of saints?  Paul has made reference to the one Body of which all believers are a part.  He goes on from that to speak of ‘one Spirit.’  Who is this ‘one Spirit?’  If we are discussing the saints, then this can only be the Holy Spirit.  Who is the Holy Spirit?  According to Scriptures, He is the Spirit Who hovered over the face of the waters in Genesis.  He is the Spirit Who ‘shall not strive with man forever.’  He is the same Spirit Whom David feared that God would take from him after he had committed adultery.  He is the Spirit Whom Christ said would show believers the things that were of Christ and guide them into all truth.  He is the Spirit who raised Christ from the dead and Who raises those who are dead in trespasses and sins to life in Christ.  He is the same Spirit Who renews believers in the whole person after the image of Christ and enables us to die more and more unto sin and to live unto righteousness.  Paul refers to Him in Romans as ‘the Spirit of Christ.’  He is the Spirit Who unifies all the people of God in every age.  The Body of Christ has one Spirit, Who indwells every part of the Body.  We look to this Spirit to ever show us more of Christ.

Our Good and Gracious God,
we rejoice that You have given unto us Your blessed Holy Spirit.
We praise You that He continues to take
the things of Christ and shows them unto us.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning
Preparing to Worship

Preparing to Worship

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9:30 am Worship Service
10900 Huron Street
Northglenn, CO

***Monitoring pending weather conditions – stay tuned for updates.

Scripture: I Corinthians 12:12-27; Ephesians 4:4

For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink unto one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not the body; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear shall say, because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling? But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now are they many members, yet but one body. and the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: Nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: and those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor: and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together having given more abundant honor to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it: or one member be honored all the member rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling….

Sermon: The Body Of Christ – Tomm Tice

  1. What is the Body of Christ?
  2. How does the Body of Christ function?
  3. What is our role in the Body of Christ?

Catechism: Westminster Shorter Catechism Question #92

What is a sacrament?

A sacrament is holy ordinance instituted by Christ, wherein, by sensible signs, Christ, and the benefits of the new covenant, are represented, sealed, and applied to believers.

Matthew 28:19, Matthew 26:26-28; Mark 14: 22-25; Luke 22:19-20; I Corinthians 1:22-26; Galatians 3:27; I Corinthians 10:16-17

Worship

Holy, Holy, Holy
O Great God
I Love You Lord
One Body

One Body

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There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling….

Ephesians 4:4

Paul has been promoting unity among believers.  His previous statement was that believers should be, ‘endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.’  To illustrate what unifies believers, he begins with the most obvious illustration.  He declares, ‘There is one body.’  The body to which he refers is the Body of Christ.  He will continue to make reference to this body later in the chapter when he says, ‘but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:  from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love’.  It is not the only place in his writings that Paul will use the example.  I Corinthians 12 lays out the interconnectedness of the Body of Christ and the purpose we serve in relation to one another.  He raises the subject again in Colossians and Romans.  Why does this discussion become important to us?  It does so because it enables us to understand how we are related to Christ as the Head, and how we are related to each other as members of the Body of Christ.  This will affect our view of unity, to which Paul referred in the previous verse.  It will bring us to consider what will be best for the Body, and what contribution we can make for the health of it.  It will, by default, raise the subject of what hurts the Body.  Overall, it will continue to bring as us to Christ, Our Living Head.

Our Holy and Wise God,
we rejoice that You have brought us together in Christ.
We praise You that You will show us,
through Your Word and by Your Spirit,
how we relate to one another.

Tomm Tice
Where the Bush is Burning

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