church history 101 – Page 6 – Jesus @ 2 am blogs and podcast

Understanding the Bible 36: Who Is the Holy Spirit?

July 24, 2014July 24, 2014Kirk WinslowLeave a comment

How do we know the Bible is true? That is to say, why should we trust the biblical vision of reality is anything other than wishful thinking? Or is faith inherently “blind”?

Such questions are often met – both inside and outside the church – with philosophical arguments about the nature of being, first principles, Prime Movers and so on (with no all-convincing conclusion). However, for Paul, the question was far more simply answered. How do we know the gospel is true? The Holy Spirit is now visibly at work in the church and indeed all creation – a truth Paul regarded as self-evident to those who knew what to look for.

In this episode we look at the Person of the Holy Spirit as revealed in the Spirit’s empowerment of the church to carry on the ministry of Jesus. For – as Paul describes – it is through the Spirit that Jesus continues his work of salvation, directing and energizing his body.

This is a sermon that was originally presented at Canvas (a Presbyterian church in Irvine, CA), June 1, 2014. To learn more about Canvas, click here!

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Understanding the Bible 34: Saved by Works, Faith, or Adoption?

July 16, 2014July 16, 2014Kirk WinslowLeave a comment

“Saved by works or saved by faith?”: It is one of the oldest debates in Christianity (albeit not the most helpful). By now, I hope it is becoming clearer that the idea of “being saved” refers to far more than simply one’s fate after death and relies neither on obedience to a divine law nor to assent to a particular set of doctrine.

To be saved is to brought – in the present – into the community of the age to come (the Kingdom of God), a transfer of citizenship that occurs ultimately by adoption. That is to say, by grace we are joined to Jesus, and in sharing his identity, we become co-heirs with him of the Kingdom, adopted children of the Father, and brother and sister to one another. It is for this reason that the New Testament (Paul in particular) uses the language of family so freely.

For Paul, the church is not a collection of the theologically like-minded or an voluntary society of Jesus-followers it is nothing less than God’s own family – one that is connected by the deepest possible bond (the Holy Spirit) and called to live in communion with God and each other as we carry out the family business (bearing witness to love’s triumph over sin).

In this episode we examine this familial bond – how it was established, what it means for our most basic identity and the call it places on us in our relationships with others.

This is a sermon that was originally presented at Canvas (a Presbyterian church in Irvine, CA), May 11th, 2014. To learn more about Canvas, click here!

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Understanding the Bible 33: Paul – How a Zealous Pharisee Became Jesus’s Apostle to the Gentiles

July 8, 2014July 8, 2014Kirk WinslowLeave a comment

Before we can understand Paul’s letters, we must first understand the man: the Pharisee, the zealot, the convert, the missionary and indeed the church’s greatest theologian.

In this episode, we examine Paul’s early life, his fervent commitment to Judaism and the extraordinary humility he demonstrates in his willingness to be wrong. Saul of Tarsus set out to persecute the church on YHWH’s behalf. And yet when YHWH reveals to him that a new mission lies before him, Saul, unlike so many of us, allows God to transform him. Saul surrenders his “religion” in obedience to God and becomes the means by which the covenant of Abraham is – in many ways – fulfilled: taking the project of salvation, at last, to the Gentile world.

This is a sermon that was originally presented at Canvas (a Presbyterian church in Irvine, CA), May 4th, 2014. To learn more about Canvas, click here!

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