Dennis R. Wiles

September 15, 2019

Hope for Our Church

Fall 2019

September 2 – November 2, 2019

Glorifying God by Following The Jesus Way!

2 Corinthians 3:7-18

Hope for Our Church

Glorifying God by Following The Jesus Way!

2 Corinthians 3:7-18

Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, transitory though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that brought condemnation was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was transitory came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away. But their minds were made dull, for to this day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away. Even to this day when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

THEOLOGICAL FOUNDATION

Glorifying God by Following The Jesus Way

God created human beings to live in community with Him and to bear His image and reflect His glory in His world.

Our sinfulness prohibits us from being able to fulfill God’s original desire for us.

God answered our dilemma with the implementation of the Great Plan of Redemption.

Jesus Christ most fully bore the Image of God and reflected the Glory of God in a human life.

The Jesus Way is the only way that leads to rescue, redemption, and restoration for all human beings.

God is at work in us and through us to conform us, transform us, and reveal His glory to His world.

Dennis R. Wiles

September 1, 2019

Hope for Our Church

Fall 2019

September 2 – November 2, 2019

Having Church on Purpose!

John 15:5-8

Hope for Our Church

Having Church on Purpose!

John 15:5-8

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

What is the Church? (ekklesia in NT Greek)

The church can be defined as the whole body of those who through Christ’s death have been savingly reconciled to God and have received new life.

-John Newport

The church is the single, multiethnic family promised by the creator God to Abraham. It was brought into being through Israel’s Messiah, Jesus; it was energized by God’s Spirit; and it was called to bring the transformative news of God’s rescuing justice to the whole creation.

-N. T. Wright

What is the purpose of the Church?

This purpose is clearly stated in various places in the New Testament: that through the church God will announce to the wider world that he is indeed its wise, loving, and just creator; that through Jesus he has defeated the powers that corrupt and enslave it; and that by his Spirit he is at work to heal and renew it . . . The church exists, in other words, for what we sometimes call “mission”: to announce to the world that Jesus is its Lord.

-N. T. Wright

Ecclesiology: Now and Not Yet

The Lordship of Christ is to be expressed both in the Church and through the Church to the broader world.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Becoming fruitful believers, influencing our world for Christ.

ENRICHMENT – Becoming fruitful believers

ENGAGEMENT – Influencing our world for Christ

Dennis R. Wiles

August 25, 2019

Hope for the End Time

August 2019

August 4 – August 31, 2019

Heaven on Earth

Revelation 21-22

Revelation 22:6-9

The angel said to me, “These words are trustworthy and true. The Lord, the God who inspires the prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that must soon take place.”

“Look, I am coming soon! Blessed is the one who keeps the words of the prophecy written in this scroll.”

I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I had heard and seen them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who had been showing them to me. But he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your fellow prophets and with all who keep the words of this scroll. Worship God!”

Revelation 22:1-5

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

Heaven – What is it? Where is it?

REALIZED ESCHATOLOGY – The Now and the Not Yet

The Glorious Return of the Lord Jesus!

Dennis R. Wiles

August 18, 2019

Hope for the End Time

August 2019

August 4 – August 31, 2019

The Victorious Gospel

Revelation 6-7

HOPE – Certainty in the present and firm expectation for the future

The Victorious Gospel

Revelation 6-7

Revelation 7:9-17 –

After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,

who sits on the throne,

and to the Lamb.”

All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

“Amen!

Praise and glory

and wisdom and thanks and honor

and power and strength

be to our God for ever and ever.

Amen!”

Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,

“they are before the throne of God

    and serve him day and night in his temple;

and he who sits on the throne

    will shelter them with his presence.

‘Never again will they hunger;

    never again will they thirst.

The sun will not beat down on them,’

    nor any scorching heat.

For the Lamb at the center of the throne

    will be their shepherd;

‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’

    ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

THEOLOGY OF WORSHIP

VOCABULARY OF WORSHIP

Proskuneo – to bow down

Doxa – glory

Latreuo – serve

Aineo – to praise

Eucharistia – thanksgiving

Pipto – to fall down

In worship there is a summing up of those events in history that constitute the source of the church’s salvation. In worship we rehearse the Gospel story. We rehearse the Creation, Fall, Incarnation, death and resurrection of Christ, and the consummation of all things. Therefore, our worship, whether baptism, preaching, or Eucharist, proclaims Jesus Christ and his saving reality again and again. In the action a recapitulation takes place on three levels: in heaven, on earth, and in our hearts.

-Robert Webber, Worship Old and New

The March of History

The Power of the Gospel

-Salvation

-Lamb of God

-Universal Claim

-Worship of God

The Triumph of the Gospel

Dennis R. Wiles

August 11, 2019

Hope for the End Time

August 2019

August 4 – August 31, 2019

Behold the Lamb of God!

Revelation 5

HOPE – Certainty in the present and firm expectation for the future

THEOLOGY OF WORSHIP

We are children of God and priests in His Kingdom!

We can have an encounter with Christ in worship!

What is your definition of worship? What is your favorite genre of worship?

Mystery and humility go together, and there can be no real worship without humility. God reveals Himself but He rarely explains Himself. Christians don’t live on explanations; they live on promises and on deepening relationships . . . In our desire to explain everything and avoid whatever we can’t explain, we have almost robbed worship of its important dimension of mystery.

-Warren Wiersbe

Let others wrangle, I will wonder.

-St. Augustine

Behold the Lamb of God!

Revelation 4:1 – 5:5

After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in whiteand had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

“‘Holy, holy, holy

is the Lord God Almighty,’

who was, and is, and is to come.”

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before himwho sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

“You are worthy, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

for you created all things,

and by your will they were created

and have their being.”

Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Worship is both objective and subjective.

The Object of our worship is the Triune God!

Behold the Lamb of God!