Approved Workmen

By Jake LiedkieReligion & Spirituality Christianity

Approved Workmen episodes

May 21, 2018 Putting on Christ
An Exposition of Colossians 3:12-17
We are called to serve the body with our spiritual gifts. We are called to
give generously to the Lord in our offerings. We are called to disciple and
witness to unbelievers and many other responsibilities.
But a passage like this is so essential because it is possible to do all
the things I listed and be immature in the faith. Certainly they will all
be present in the life of a believer, but even unbelievers do those things.
Unbelievers serve and give and study.
So, the mere presence of spiritual activity and sacrifice in your life
isn’t an evidence of maturity. What is an evidence of maturity is
Christlike character. The evidence that you are mature is godliness that
comes from the Lord.
Paul calls it the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. By that he means the
product of the Spirit being at work in the life of a person. And so, this
week as we move from
1. One who treasures Christ above all else (1-4)
2. One who mortifies sin upon seeing it for what it is (5-11)
3. One who models Christ magnifying him on earth (12-17)
When you belong to Christ and know him, it shapes your attitude and then
your behavior.
4 Critical Areas We Must Model the Lord Jesus Christ
1. Let the character of Christ define your demeanor (12-14)
2. Let the peace of Christ be the umpire in your strife (15)
3. Let the word of Christ permeate your life (16)
4. Let the person of Christ impact all that you do (17)
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May 14, 2018 It's Time to Part with Your Sin
An Exposition of Colossians 3:5-11
If you want to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ to
have influence and impact in the kingdom, then this is where it’s all at.
Fundamentals. The basics. Christianity 101. Treasure Christ. Kill sin.
Model Christ.
Romans 8:13—if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body
you will live. That means that this is not an optional pursuit.
Whatever you have heard about a Spirit-filled, Spirit-led life, this is a
Spirit-empowered life. It isn’t in your ability to hear from God special
messages, or heal people, or sense special things in prayer. A person who
is full of the Spirit is a person who experiences the victory over sin that
God has promised. That is a Spirit-filled person.
You must be willing to make a violent divorce with your old life.
3 Characteristics of a Thriving Christian (Be Who You Are)
1. One who treasures Christ above all else (1-4)
2. One who mortifies sin upon seeing it for what it is (5-11)
3. One who models Christ magnifying him on earth (12-17)
Colossians 3:1-11 (ESV)—1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek
the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of
God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on
earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4
When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in
glory.
(5) Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality,
impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On
account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once
walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away:
anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not
lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its
practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in
knowledge after the image of its creator. 11 Here there is not Greek and
Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but
Christ is all, and in all.
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May 07, 2018 Treasure Christ Above All Else
An Exposition of Colossians 3:1-4
Our obedience flows out of the relationship we have with God, which is
based upon his grace alone. But we can live below our calling. That’s why
we titled this Be who you are… it is a call to live in light of who the
Bible says you are, namely a saint, a child, a friend, an heir, a dearly
beloved one of God.
3 Characteristics of a Thriving Christian (Be Who You Are)
1. One who treasures Christ above all else (1-4)
2. One who mortifies sin upon seeing it for what it is (5-11)
3. One who models Christ magnifying him on earth (12-17)
Colossians 3:1–4 (ESV)—1 If then you have been raised with Christ,
seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right
hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things
that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with
Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also
will appear with him in glory.
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April 23, 2018 Jesus Saves the Least
An Exposition of Mark 10:46-52
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April 16, 2018 Lagging Behind the Servant Savior, Round 3
An Exposition of Mark 10:32-45
Allow me to set before today the paradigm that is to govern your thinking:
humble sacrifice is the path to glory. Not some cheap version of
servant-leadership, but a personal lowliness that serves eagerly,
cheerfully, and without personal expectations.
The disciples disregard Jesus as he promotes servanthood and they promote
themselves.
Three Scenes As The DisciplesDisregard Jesus’ Plan of Suffering (Again)
1. Jesus reviews how his earthly mission will end (32-34)
2. Jesus regulates the disciples’ desire for prominence (35-41)
3. Jesus repeats a vision of true greatness through service (42-45)
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April 09, 2018 The Man Who Needs Nothing, Not Even Jesus
An Exposition of Mark 10:17-31
Today in our passage, Jesus is going to break common misconceptions about
salvation. Namely, that God helps those who help themselves, or God saves
good people. God only saves bad people. Period.
Salvation is by God’s power and grace to those who embrace Jesus as their
only hope, not to those feel good about their own achievements. And to be
saved means submitting to Jesus Christ as Lord of all.
Mark 10:17–31—17 As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him
and knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to
inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good?
No one is good except God alone. 19 “You know the commandments, ‘DO NOT
MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do
not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’ ” 20 And he said to Him,
“Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” 21 Looking at
him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and
sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in
heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But at these words he was saddened, and he
went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.
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April 02, 2018 Let's Pretend Jesus Isn't Raised
An Exposition of 1 Corinthians 15:12-19
Paul is going to use a specific type of conditional statement throughout
this section where what he does is says, for the sake of argument, let’s
assume that it is true that Christ isn’t raised. I want to demonstrate your
bad thinking by taking it to its logical conclusion. Let’s play this thing
out together.
Jesus of Nazareth was God and man united in one person. That one person
died. The body stopped breathing, no pulse, no brainwaves, no circulation.
The soul lived on, as is the cause when we die. Then the body of Jesus was
raised in newness of life, in resurrection power, and his soul was reunited
to his body.
If you deny the bodily resurrection, then you deny this reality. We don’t
have enough details to know how the Corinthians who were struggling with
this doctrine reconciled these things. It is suggested that perhaps they
denied the humanity of Jesus. The challenge I see is that Paul doesn’t ever
correct them for disbelieving in a resurrected Christ. It seems to me that
they were believing that Jesus was raised. The problem then is that there
other position is inconsistent.
What Paul does next is not an argument for the resurrection. He doesn’t
appeal to their faith and say, “think of how sad and hopeless you would be
without the resurrection… it must be true.” It isn’t emotional reasoning.
It isn’t working backwards from faith. It isn’t a proof. Paul gives the
evidence before and after this paragraph. Here he is playing out the fact
that all of Christianity hangs on whether or not Jesus actually rose bodily
from the grave or not.
If you are playing Jenga, theology-edition, the crucifixion block is the
one block that will always knock the entire stack over. It is a lynchpin,
it is a keystone, it is the essential ingredient. You takeaway Jesus
conquering the grave and you lose Christianity.
So, Paul now adopts that line of thinking. Let’s play this thing out to its
logical end. I’m going to take up this new premise: Jesus did not rise from
the dead. With that new premise in mind here are six necessary conclusions
that will result.
6 Tragic Consequences if Christ Isn’t Raised (1 Cor. 15:12-19)
Paul’s argument is established in vv. 12-13, repeated in v. 16
1. Preaching is pointless (14a)
2. Believing is worthless (14b)
3. Apostles are misleading (15)
4. Salvation is nonexistent (17)
5. Death is decisive (18)
6. Christians are pathetic (19)
1 Corinthians 15:12–19—12 Now if Christ is preached, that He has been
raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no
resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead,
not even Christ has been raised; 14 and if Christ has not been raised, then
our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain. 15 Moreover we are even
found to be false witnesses of God, because we testified against God that
He raised Christ, whom He did not raise, if in fact the dead are not
raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised;
17 and if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are
still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ
have perished. 19 If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are of
all men most to be pitied.
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March 26, 2018 Mission Accomplished
An Exposition of John 19:28-30
Friends, in our passage this morning today we are going to see that Jesus
is bringing his earthly mission to a close today. He is reaching the final
point of the work he came to do. He has been preparing for this moment for
thousands of years and now it’s finally here.
The work needed to save sinners is finally complete. For Jesus, this moment
marks, mission accomplished. Jesus Christ came to save sinners (1 Timothy
1:12) and so here it is.
Turn with me in your Bibles to the Gospel of John:
John 19:28-30—28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already
been accomplished, to fulfill the Scripture, said, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar
full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour
wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. 30 Therefore
when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He
bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
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March 19, 2018 Learning from the Little Ones
An Exposition of Mark 10:13-16
Today Jesus is going to challenge the status quo as it pertains to
children. I titled this Learning Lessons from Little Ones because there are
multiple lessons going on here. This isn’t just a lesson on loving little
people. That’s part of the text. God loves children as we will see today.
But this passage is also very clearly about discipleship. There’s teaching
about becoming a Christian and what it means to relate to the Lord Jesus
Christ as a disciple. There’s teaching broadly about the value and worth of
others, that when it comes to other humans you can’t value a book by the
dust jacket.
So today Jesus is absolutely going to teach us about how much he loves
children, and beyond that how children demonstrate principles of God’s
kingdom. These were important lessons for the disciples to learn, and now
you and I as well.
4 Activities as Jesus Captures a Teachable Moment with Youngsters
1. Jesus chastises the disciples for dismissing them (13-14a)
2. Jesus clarifies his perspective concerning them (14b)
3. Jesus capitalizes on them for an object lesson (15)
4. Jesus cares for them personally and spiritually (16)
Mark 10:13–16—13 And they were bringing children to Him so that He might
touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, He
was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not
hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 “Truly I
say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will
not enter it at all.” 16 And He took them in His arms and began blessing
them, laying His hands on them.
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March 12, 2018 Marriage, By God's Design - Part 2
An Exposition of Mark 10:1-12 - Part Two
Today the text before us involves Jesus getting pulled right into the
middle of a public controversy over the heated issue of divorce.
Specifically, the question relates to when divorce is sanctioned by God and
when it’s not.
But Jesus has spent his time so far building a biblical theology of
marriage. That’s what we looked at last week. Now this week, after
reestablishing God’s perspective, Jesus gets to the matter of divorce.
4 Points as Jesus Corrects a Corrupt View of Marriage (10:1-12)
1. The critical setting for the lesson (1-2)
2. The common abuse of Scripture (3-4)
3. The careful affirmation of God’s design (5-9)
4. The concluding application (10-12) developing the doctrine
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Weekly men's leadership training at Cornerstone Bible Church in Albany, Oregon.

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Approved Workmen

Approved Workmen episodes

About Approved Workmen