This week, we learned about the power of names, specifically, God’s name. In Exodus, the third commandment God gives us is “You shall not take the name of your Lord God in vain…”

In the sermon, Aaron talked about Tertullian (a 2nd century church father). Tertullian explained the puzzle of the Trinity as such; In the Roman Empire, the Emperor shared power with his son, declaring him “co-emperor.” In these cases the empire itself was not divided… but each had full imperial authority over all the land. Each was emperor, each was in full possession of imperial power, and that power was not divided…yet one of them was not the other. Tertullian said, “Divinity is shared by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. There is only one divinity, only one God, just as there is only one empire.”

The Trinity teaches us that God, who is the ONLY God, does not stand alone in solitary splendor, God Himself exists in relationship. God is one, and yet God is one in community. If anyone ever says to you that the doctrine of the Trinity asks you to believe in the nonsensical notion that three can be one, we can answer that, on the contrary, the Trinity is a unique example of what it means truly to be ONE. God’s oneness is such that there is love even within the Godhead itself. God is love, not just in the sense that God loves us, but also in the sense that the inner life of the Trinity is a life of love.

What we believe has fundamental effects on how we live our lives, what we allow to influence us as truth has the same effect. The early church became, rightfully, protective over what was being taught as sacred scripture.

Marcion was guilty of attempting to reduce the Gospel to simply the love of Christ. He removed all parts of the Bible that were Jewish in nature and attempted to conform the Bible to his own worldview (sounds like the culture we live in today, right?) When he neglected the wrath of God he also eliminated the need for grace. Our sin is real, and it is ugly. It is true that God loves us, but if you recall, the wages of sin are death.

Montanus believed that what he felt, thought, and became emotional

over was more important, and held greater truth, than what God had

revealed to humanity through Jesus’ own words and the apostles words.

Our culture today is a “me” based culture that takes this approach to

everything. We say things like “follow your heart” and “do what you feel is

right” in regards to decisions we make…yet the scriptures teach us that

many times that is the worst way to make a decision.

At the heart of heresies is often our desire to remain in control, the belief that we are good enough without God. Just like the Ebionites, we are tempted to view Jesus as a great teacher, but not our God, and not our redeemer. We have two choices, just like the broad and narrow road we looked at last week. Either we have to abandon our self-will or abandon our hope. The two seem mutually exclusive; when we trust ourselves we lose all hope.

“The gospel on the outside looks incredibly small and cramped, when you get inside, it’s unbelievably spacious. The alternatives to the gospel look incredibly broad, spacious, free and tolerant, but on the inside, they’re cramped and narrow.” Most people don’t like to have the reality of the broad and narrow roads pointed out, we are more than content to live in our own delusions of tolerance, even when tolerance leads away from true life.

While Jesus commands us to treat others with the same love and respect we desire, we can easily get caught up in our own behavior.As shared in the sermon, an emphasis on our own works is often the largest threat to our spiritual growth and understanding of grace.

Jesus invites us to change not only how we interact with others, but how we interact with Him. Understanding grace, truth, a good father, and grace centered community.

Judging is about trying to have control, freedom is about entrusting ourselves to Jesus.

The problem with “stuff” is that it not only takes up space in our homes, but also takes up space in our souls. In the book The Power of Habit, it talks about a “Keystone Habit.” A keystone habit is one that, if either implemented or changed, sets off a chain reaction to other habits. It will catalyze new patterns of thinking, desiring and behaving. It’s not an isolated habit. It is connected. The early church was characterized by generosity, setting in motion the habit of giving which has lasted two millennia.

There are approximately 30 parables in the Scriptures, 19 of which either speak directly of money or are told in an economic context. Jesus spoke more about money and generosity than any other subject besides the Kingdom of God. S.E. Lea and P. Webley, in their research study The Biological Psychology of a Strong Incentive, state that “money is a tool, but money is also a drug.” Money lets us pay the bills, keep the lights on, stay fed, and get work done because money is a tool. But money also acts like a drug. Money makes us feel things we would not otherwise feel. It gives us a temporary escape from pain, and it can also give us a momentary illusion of wellbeing.