Family Church Portsmouth

In Saving us, God did not patch up a sinful us, rather He caused a regeneration and renewal by His Spirit that gave us a brand new birth and beginning.

Ps Andy speaks today about how we are regenerated by a re-birthing, washing and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Our new birth is a spiritual birth which results in us being made alive spiritually.

Ps Andy goes on to teach how our regeneration occurs at the moment of our salvation, and that the only means of regeneration is by faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross.

On this Global Sunday we celebrate the diversity of Family Church from all the different cultures making us one Kingdom of God. Ps Sean speaks about how we are unified in Christ...Ephesians 2:19-20 (NIV) states "Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone."

Ps Sean speaks of how the world is full of division, strife, and anger but in contrast we are united by the faith, hope and love of Christ.

Pastor Steuart continues with Part 5 in our series - Jesus Saves. This week he speaks about Sanctification. Sanctification literally means "to set apart for special use or purpose", that is, to make holy or sacred. When we accept Christ as Saviour, our sins are immediately forgiven, we are set apart as holy, and we are reconciled to Him.

The Bible explains how we are all saints. The word saint relates to the word sanctification. We have been set apart from the penalty of sin and made holy before God.

Listen as Ps Steu unpacks this amazing topic and explains how God sees us through Christ. This is a must listen message!

Ps Andy continues the series on Jesus Saves, part of our study on our salvation through Christ. Earlier messages looked at Forgiveness, Justification and Reconciliation - all made possible only through the sacrifice of Jesus' blood on the cross for us.

Redemption is a term which implies that something has been paid for or bought back, like a slave who has been set free through the payment of a ransom. The word ransom is related to the Christian concept of redemption. Jesus paid the price for our release from sin and its punishment. His death was in exchange for our life. In fact, Scripture is quite clear that redemption is only possible “through His blood,” that is, by His death.

Ps Andy emphasizes that all this is only possible by the perfect sacrifice God made through His Son for us....He predestined our lives before we were born! As Ps Andy explains, it is vital we do understand this aspect of our salvation, then we can live to enjoy the benefits...

• Eternal life - Revelation 5:9-10
• Forgiveness of sins - Ephesians 1:7
• Righteousness - Romans 5:17
• Freedom from the law’s curse - Galatians 3:13
• Adoption into God’s family - Galatians 4:5
• Deliverance from sin’s bondage - Titus 2:14 & 1 Peter 1:14-18
• Peace with God - Colossians 1:18-20
• The indwelling of the Holy Spirit - 1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Redemption means to buy back. And in this case, it's to buy back to the original owner. We were made by God to be Gods. However, we were stolen.....but God has brought us back to himself by paying the ransom price of Christ. Amen!

Ps Carla continues the current series exploring our salvation through Jesus Christ. This week her title is 'Reconciliation'. She talks about how we might be reconciled to each other as a result of various circumstances but more importantly how we are able to be reconciled back to God through our salvation with Jesus Christ.

God's plan for us in all time was reconciliation back to Him like Adam and Eve were originally before sin existed.

Romans 5:1 (NLT) states "Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us." Further, in verses 6-10, this scripture tells us "When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son."

Ps Carla speaks further about how we are reconciled back to God through Christ and then, additionally, how we should live once we are reconciled to God and His Holy Spirit is there to guide us.

Following last weeks message about forgiveness - being a key part of our understanding of our salvation through Jesus Christ, Ps Andy today speaks on 'Justification'. It is vital that we understand a;; a[sects of our salvation. If not, our lives will not be changed and we shall exist without the full knowledge of what Jesus has done for us.

In forgiving our sin, God has Justified us in His sight. This is a key thing to understand - part of our salvation. To be justified means we are declared or made righteous in the sight of God. This righteousness is a gift from God, it has nothing to do with our 'acts of kindness' which as Ps Andy tells us are seen as filthy rags compared to what Jesus did for us on the cross (Isaiah 64:6).

With plentiful scriptures, Ps Andy explains how our justification, our right standing with God is the fruit of divine exchange at the cross of Jesus.

Following the previous series of messages on Christology, Pastor Andy begins a new series of messages on Soteriology. This is the study of salvation, coming from the Greek soterion, salvation and is also related to soter meaning Saviour. This is all within the framework of messages this year about being "deeply rooted".

As Ps Andy speaks on our salvation, he asks simple questions - who is saved by whom from what, and by what means? Its crucial to have a correct understanding of these aspects in order not to have any false understanding.

Today he unwraps the subject of forgiveness, a cardinal point in our Christian walk. With reference to multiple scriptures, Ps Andy ensures we all understand the difference between being forgiven original sin which comes the instant we accept Jesus and receive His salvation, and daily misdemeanors we all make. Without forgiveness, we cannot live in perfect relationship with our Father God. The debt for our sins past, present and future can only be paid by the blood of Jesus, this is why it is so imperative we receive Him as our Saviour.

This is an absolute must listen message which unwraps key aspects of the gospel in relation to forgiveness of sins.

On this Resurrection Sunday, Easter Day, Pastor Andy speaks about how Jesus is the 'door' to a new life for us. Jesus is the door to the Father. He refers to John 10;7-10 (NKJV) " Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

Using a real door as a visual aid he speaks most profoundly about how Jesus is the door to a relationship with the Father. Our relationship with the Father in Heaven was lost due to the Adam and Eve's sinful nature in the Garden of Eden (book of genesis refers).

Many claim to be a messiah or even the Messiah but the only way to the Father is through Jesus Christ. Let us open the door of our hearts to Jesus with faith in order to receive Him and receive eternal life.

Ps Sean rounds off the series 'Jesus is' by giving a recap on the messages so far then focusing today on the title 'Jesus is Lord'. What does it mean to be a Lord?, there are many daily uses of this word in secular language but Jesus is not just Lord, He is Lord of Lords.

Scriptures abound here but the cardinal point of Ps Sean's message is this: If Jesus is not Lord of all in our lives, He is not Lord at all. We all need to examine how we live, what we say, what we hear, what we look at, what we do, engage in, our decisions, everything. This is immensely challenging. Luke 6:46-49 (NIV) says "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock".

It's easy to listen to the word and not respond in our hearts and deeds. Jesus bore the price for our sins with His blood on the cross. Our value is His blood. Let us not forget. If our lives become compromised, this leads to blindness which leads to deception ending in destruction. Jesus bore our sins to set us free and make us righteous before God the Father.

Ps Paula continues the series on "Jesus is" -part of our teaching on Christology. This week, she speaks about Jesus being the only person able to fulfill the three titles of Prophet, Priest and also King. Prior to Jesus, these roles were only found to be held by separate individuals in the Old Testament. Ps Paula describes what these roles mean and also why Jesus was and is the perfect man, the sole person who fulfills all of these roles for us today as he did when he was on earth.