Good Shepherd Community Church

A "mediator" is someone who stands between two parties and has the interests of both parties at heart - such is our Lord Jesus Christ. In the Old Testament Moses (along with his brother Aaron) stands as the great model of a Mediator between Yahweh and the people of Israel. When the people had fallen into idolatry and immorality while Moses was up on Mt. Sinai, in his anger Yahweh told Moses he would destroy the nation and begin another nation with him. But God relented when Moses implored him to withdraw his hand of judgment and reminded him of his promise to the patriarchs that he would make a great nation of them. In Hebrews 2:10 we read about the suffering of this Mediator, Jesus Christ, which qualified and tested him and confirmed his worthiness for the job God appointed him to. The former Levitical priests under the Old Covenant were imperfect because of their sin, but Jesus was perfectly sinless and rose from the dead so "he ever lives to make intercession for his people" (Heb. 7:25). This Mediator, wh

David in Psalm 145 tells us the greatness of God by declaring what he is and what he has done. By example he shows how to praise God the King. However, he goes further by speaking at the beginning of the psalm of he various ways he intents to lift up the Name of God. Listen for the various ways he is extolling God and we can join him in these actions.

In the first three chapters of the Book of Romans, the apostle Paul lays out the case that all humanity, not only the Gentiles, but also the Jews are guilty before God of sin. Their infection with sin is not shallow, but all pervasive. In this passage in Romans 3 the apostle quotes several passages in the Old Testament, mainly from the psalms, demonstrating how deep-seated sin is in all humanity. This immersion of every human in sin can be seen in that: No one seeks God No one does good. No one is righteous Every person is active and deliberate and cruel in their wickedness. No one fears God. The world with its philosophies and religions has no real solution to this massive spiritual problem; only the Gospel of Jesus Christ recognizes the seriousness of this problem and presents the only solution: the redemptive work of the Lord Jesus Christ whose death on the cross paid the price of his people's sin and provides them with the imputed righteousness of Christ. Salvation from sin cannot be obtained by hum

David composed a hymn, a song, extolling the greatness of God in the revelation of his nature, his character displayed in his grace to us. Psalm 145:3 Great is YHWH (Yahweh) and greatly to be praised.

The Psalms of David are so valuable and instructive to God's people in every age. The overarching theme of this psalm is the magnificent greatness of God. The content of this psalm may be structured as follows: I. From whom should Yahweh's praise come? It would come from David himself as well as all of God's people and even all humanity from every age. It will arise from one generation to another as the faith is passed on by faithful teachers and preachers. All the saints of God who call on him, those who fear him and love him will praise him. II. When should Yahweh's praise come forth? David declares it would arise every day as well as forever and ever from him - probably indicating it would continue into the future after his death. David is the model for all God's people to follow. III. Why should Yahweh's people offer him unending praise? It is because of his mighty acts, his goodness to all his creatures, but especially for the perfections of his holy being: he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger a

Paul writes in Colossians 3:16, "Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God." These words address participation in Christian assembly and tells us to use Psalms. We should read them, pray them, sing them and teach and preach them. Three recently used psalms demonstrate this. The psalms reviewed are, first of all, Psalm 130, a prayer of lament and petition resulting in a self exhortation and a group exhortation. For the next service we turned to Psalm 105. However, Psalm 105 and 106 are actually one psalm of poetic historical narrative of God's dealings with his chosen people, the Hebrews, Israel. The psalm is an exhortation to praise God and a teaching device to encourage spiritual renewal in light of God's faithfulness. Lastly, we used Psalm 86, a prayer of David in the form of lament and petition to Yahweh, the Lord. It is a heartfelt prayer of deep relationshi

We are not told the specific occasion for David's distress but we can learn from him how to deal with the trials that come our way. He goes to Yahweh in prayer with confidence that God would answer him. Even in the midst of David's personal trials, God's glory and majesty remains unchanged and his worthiness to be worshiped will be recognized by all nations. David's enemies are ruthless, but God's love and faithfulness is steadfast. As David is comforted in his God, so are we as we look to him.

The Lord's Supper , holy Communion is an integral part of Christian worship and the singing done at the Table should be rich in content filled with biblical orthodox teaching as well as praise and prayer. Jesus set the example at inaugural holy meal recorded in Matthew 26:30 and Mark 14:26. After singing a hymn (probably Psalm 118) they went out to the Mount of Olives. Consider the teaching of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:14-21 and Luke's words in Acts 2:42 and Acts 20:7. The Supper was frequent apparently every First Day of the week when the disciples, the believers came together to eat the Lord's Supper. See 1 Cor. 11 repeated phrase "when you come together". Examples of good hymns to sing at the Lord's Table that express rich biblical teaching and the meaning are cited. From the Baptist Charles Spurgeon, in the 19th century when teaches spiritual presence of the Resurrected Lord Jesus, "Among Us Our Beloved Stands". Alex Motyer, in the 20th century, "O God Your Mercy Moved by Love" and "Behold the

The people of Israel rejoiced in Yahweh because they remembered his mighty acts in their history, especially how he chose them, the least of all the peoples of the earth, to be his very own treasured possession. Then he graciously saved them from starvation when he brought them from Canaan to Egypt. After several hundred years they had grown into a populous nation which the Egyptians feared, so they oppressed them and put them into servitude. Yahweh sent Moses to deliver them out of Egypt, lead them through forty years of wilderness wanderings, and bring them to the Promised Land. God brought them there so they could obey his law and live before him as his special people. When the ancient prophecies of the coming Messiah-Deliverer of God's people were fulfilled in the incarnation of the Son of God, Jesus Christ the Lord, and through his subsequent death, resurrection, and ascension, there was even greater reason to remember the mighty acts of Yahweh seen in the Savior. Through his Son, God has done all tha

The act of worship that is Christian baptism must contain the proclamation of the Word containing its institution and its meaning. A biblical way of enhance this service is to sing Christ centered gospel focused hymns expressing Biblical truth to both the one being baptized and the body of worshippers participating in this gospel ordinance. Psalm 105:2 ESV Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! There are examples of people who upon being baptized responded with rejoicing Acts 8, the newly baptized Ethiopian went on home rejoicing. The converted Philippian jailer upon hearing and believing the good news was baptized and rejoiced greatly with all his household, having believed in God. Acts 16:34 New Testament baptism presents conversion and baptism together. We must not separate what God has joined! The order of human response to God's sovereign move in grace is to repent-believe and baptized. One very importan

Sermon Outline: I. The Distress of the Psalmist - v. 1-3 II. The Relief of the Psalmist - v. 4-6 III. The Certain Hope of God's People - v. 7-8 As we read this Psalm we see that the psalmist is in great distress and is crying out for the mercy of God. The thing that is overwhelming him is his own sin, his great iniquity. He knows how righteous God is but is comforted in Yahweh's steadfast love and plentiful redemption. So the Psalmist waits in certain hope that God will redeem him as well as all his people from their iniquities. Knowing the Old Testament promises of the Messiah is where his ultimate hope rested: the coming One who would pay the price for the true removal of their sin and guilt. We, too, wait for the consummation of our salvation at Christ's return.

Jesus Christ gave and commanded two ordinances or sacraments for his followers to observe. Both are directly connected to and embody the gospel, the wonderful news of forgiveness and new life with God as our Father through the redemptive actions of Jesus- his life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension into heaven. Through these appointed rites we participate with Christ in his work on our behalf. To counter the all to common low view of the ordinances we must embrace a robust biblical view of their connection with our salvation through union with the Lord Jesu

Paul's words in Col. 3:1-4 cut across time: they begin with the past, come into the present, and look to the future. In all these phases we are united to Christ. Union with Christ has been called the "umbrella doctrine" because it covers the entire Christian experience. "In Christ" is the fundamental expression used over and over in Paul's letters to describe the position of the Christian in this world. In Gal. 2:20 we learn that we have been united with Christ in his death. All of our subjective blessings are based on his objective work on the cross. As Michael Horton says, "If Christ remains outside of us , it's useless to us - we must cash in through personal faith in Christ." When Christ arose and ascended, we also rose and ascended with him, not bodily, but spiritually. So in our present experience on earth, we walk by faith via the enablement of the grace of Spirit, to live our daily lives so as to please him. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 we read about our future at Christ's return: the raising of our

Hymn singing that is the musical expression of Biblical truth in the form of vocal music is extremely important in the Christian life. What we sing and how we sing it shapes us in many ways. In the Bible singing plays a major role. This is especially true when believers gather. The Scriptures in both the Old Testament and the New Testament command us to sing and gives examples. The earliest recorded song I find in the Bible is Exodus 15:1ff Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to Yahweh, and said, "I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously. He has thrown the horse and his rider into the sea. 2 Yah is my strength and song. He has become my salvation. This is my God, and I will praise him; my father's God, and I will exalt him. 3 Yahweh is a man of war. Yahweh is his name. WEB Moses concluded his mediator prophet role by composing and singing a song recorded in Deuteronomy 32. Give ear, you heavens, and I will speak. Let the earth hear the words of my mouth. My doctrine will dr

"Union with Christ" is essentially "Christ in you" and "you in Christ." But it involves not only a union with Christ but a union with one another, with the body of Christ, fleshed out in the core of a Christian assembly. Louis Berkoff gives a good definition of union with Christ: it is the "intimate, vital, and spiritual connection between Christ and believers." M. Pete Johnson says "to be saved is to be united to the Savior." God saves us not just as individuals in union with himself but also to join us to his people. The Christian life cannot be lived in isolation from other believers. Rom. 12:5 says "we are members one of another." It is only in the local church that we can rub shoulders with fellow Christians and share our mutual life together. In Christ we are new men and women, but we are joined to other new men and women in the local assembly. We have all been washed of all our various sins by Jesus' blood. We have all been awakened from spiritual death to spiritual life by the Holy Spirit and broug

In Ephesians 4 we have a picture of the Lord Jesus ascending back to the Father in heaven. He has as the incarnate Lord entered into the spiritual battle with Satan on the cross. There he He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it. Although Satan thought he was winning in the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus he was in fact being defeated. Christ Jesus dying for his own people given to him by the Father took away their damnation and since he had no sin of his own death had no hold on him. Thus he arose from the dead on the third day in an immortal body. Some 40 days later Jesus ascended into heaven and took a host of captives with him! We are those captives if we belong to Christ Jesus by faith. He rescued us from the domain of Satan and now leads us in victorious procession into heaven to be presented to the Father in union with His own person. Thanks be to God who gives us the victory in Christ Jesus the Lord! He disarmed the rulers and authorities and m

The believer's union with Christ includes union with him in his ascension - this is accomplished by work of the Holy Spirit - it is a mystery, but it is also reality. Four key words will be used to describe this great union of the believer with their Lord in his ascension: 1) "glory" - the fundamental meaning of "glory" as seen in the Old Testament is something of great heaviness or weight, such as gold. Christ has always shared in glory with the Father and Spirit in eternity but when he was incarnated and suffered for sins at the cross his glory was manifested in a powerful way. In John 17:24 Jesus prayed to the Father that his people would be able to be with him and see his glory. 2) "home" - salvation fundamentally involves placing us in union with his Son. Since Jesus' home is with the Father, it is the home of his people also! Christ is in the home and we are in him, so it is our home also. 3) "victory" - we see in Colossians 2:15 that at the cross Christ disarmed rulers and authorities and in his re

In times of affliction the presence of friends can be a great source of help and encouragement. Consider Job and the visit of his three friends.

In this sermon, we delve into the profound truth of our union with Christ. Discover how believers are spiritually resurrected with Christ, united in His death, burial, and resurrection through faith and baptism. Uncover the transformative power of this divine fellowship, where our sins are forgiven, and we are made alive in Christ, free from the judgment we deserve. Join us as we unpack the significance of participating in Christ's redemptive work and living as those identified and incorporated into His body, the church.

Paul writes in a number of places of our natural identity in Adam as condemned transgressors of God's law born spiritually dead and under condemnation. But the message he had delivered to the churches in Galatia was that the Lord Jesus Christ, had given himself on the cross for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. No one can be saved by the works of the law because of our state in Adam and our transgressions. The Law can convict of sin but can not deliver those who break it. Accordingly ,we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. (Galatians 2) For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh