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He is completely separated from all creation. He is in a category all by Himself. There are no other gods. There is nothing else worthy of worship. God is supremely holy. Isaiah 40:20 We are image bearers of God, but it is faint shadow. God cannot be the author of any sin. God and sin are totally antithetical. In the holiness of God, you have absolute purity and that means that God can only allow us into fellowship with Him if someone could satisfy God's holy justice on our behalf. That someone would have to be as perfect as God, have obeyed the law perfectly, and pay for my sins with His own death. That someone can only be Jesus Christ. If man is ever to be saved, God's holiness requires a total substitute. In His Holy Spirit entering into us, we are made holy even as He is holy. It is partial in this life, but perfect in the next.

What should parents be aware of before letting their children access social media? Dr. Carlton McLeod explains in this video that social media can be extremely dangerous and harmful, particularly for younger children. It can be so easy for one of our children to see something that they can never unsee. Parents must make an informed decision of what they allow their children to access. While social media is not evil in and of itself, we shouldn't necessarily be careless and just hastily let our children access it with no limits. Each parent will have to ultimately decide what to do for their own family. Colossians 2:8 (NKJV) - "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ."

Significant portions of the church appear to have capitulated to modern theories of Scripture and secular science. The Christian doctrine of origins is one of the central battle-grounds within and without the Church of Christ. Genesis 1 contains the vital building blocks of life under God: the six days of creation, the pristine nature of life before the fall, the roll of male and female, the creation mandate and so forth. However, the grand subject of Genesis 1 (grammatically and theologically) is none of the above. The grand subject of Genesis 1 is the Triune God himself, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. God is the chief actor of Genesis 1, and it is to him, and his actions we must look if we are to firmly ground ourselves in the truth. Just as we see God acting in creation, so too we see him acting in salvation. Thus, a Trinitarian creation will lead us, inexorably, to a Trinitarian re-creation and a Trinitarian New Creation. God in creation provides us with a blueprint of life before him, and a pattern of how He, through Christ and the work of the Spirit, will re-make man for his eternal dwelling place in their midst.

In 1 John, the apostle helps people examine if they are truly Christians. Here are sixteen questions arising from 1 John: I. Do you walk in darkness? I John 1:6 – If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. II. Do you claim to have no sin? I John 1:8 – If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. III. Do you keep His commandments? I John 2:3 – Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. IV. Do you hate your brother? I John 2:9 – He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in the darkness until now. V. Do you love the world? I John 2:15 – Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. VI. Do you deny Christ? I John 2:23 – Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. VII. Do you purify yourself? I John 3:3 – And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. VIII. Are you cleansed from sin? I John 3:6 – Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him. IX. Do you practice righteousness? I John 3:7 – Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. X. Are you a murderer? I John 3:15 – Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. XI. Do you shut up your heart to your brother? I John 3:17 – But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? XII. Do you have the Spirit? I John 3:24 – Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us. XIII. Do you hear the preaching of the Word? I John 4:6 – We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. XIV. Do you love one another?

Our topic for this session is how elders can help a church not divide, bite and devour. How elders help the church not bite and devour. John 13:35 says (the disciple whom Jesus loved wrote this verse and says): “By this, all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  People know that we are the people of God when we love one another. When this verse is spoken of, it's normally focused on the testimony of the church in the world, the implication being that if we don't love each other, it's a harm to our testimony of the grace of Christ and His power to transform His people. Of course, that's a right application, but there's something more fundamental here. When we're blatantly unloving (not in an isolated instance, but over a period of time, in an ongoing way) we are exposing ourselves as being either (1.) not really Christians (we said we were Christians, but we aren't really; we don't have the fundamental mark of a Christian; that is, love in our hearts) or  (2.) grotesquely immature Christians. When we are unloving in an ongoing way (not just an eruption of immaturity, but when we're unloving over a period of time, in an ongoing way), we're either declaring that were not Christians, or we're exposing ourselves as being very immature Christians.  Now, how do elders fit in with this? Well, theoretically, elders are among the most mature Christians in a local church. They’re the men who had been identified as being ahead on the curve of having the Fruit of the Spirit in their lives. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace - no, stop too far - the Fruit of the Spirit is love. Period. Not that those other marks aren't important. But that is definitely a list with priority. Love is the overriding mark of a Christian. And when we don't have love (when we are blatantly unloving over a period of time in an ongoing way) we're saying something that is so concerning about the condition of our own souls.  Theoretically, elders are to be the most loving people in the church. If it's true that, theoretically, elders are to be among the most mature, then it must also be true that, at the same time, they’re among the most loving in the church. There is no such thing as the most mature, but not the most loving! Elders are to lead in love. And this is the exact opposite of bitin

1. The Lord our God is but one only living and true God; whose subsistence is in and of himself, infinite in being and perfection; whose essence cannot be comprehended by any but himself; a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions, who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; who is immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, every way infinite, most holy, most wise, most free, most absolute; working all things according to the counsel of his own immutable and most righteous will for his own glory; most loving, gracious, merciful, long-suffering, abundant in goodness and truth, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; the rewarder of them that diligently seek him, and withal most just and terrible in his judgments, hating all sin, and who will by no means clear the guilty. ( 1 Corinthians 8:4, 6; Deuteronomy 6:4; Jeremiah 10:10; Isaiah 48:12; Exodus 3:14; John 4:24; 1 Timothy 1:17; Deuteronomy 4:15, 16; Malachi 3:6; 1 Kings 8:27; Jeremiah 23:23; Psalms 90:2; Genesis 17:1; Isaiah 6:3; Psalms 115:3; Isaiah 46:10; Proverbs 16:4; Romans 11:36; Exodus 34:6, 7; Hebrews 11:6; Nehemiah 9:32, 33; Psalms 5:5, 6; Exodus 34:7; Nahum 1:2, 3 ) 2. God, having all life, glory, goodness, blessedness, in and of himself, is alone in and unto himself all-sufficient, not standing in need of any creature which he hath made, nor deriving any glory from them, but only manifesting his own glory in, by, unto, and upon them; he is the alone fountain of all being, of whom, through whom, and to whom are all things, and he hath most sovereign dominion over all creatures, to do by them, for them, or upon them, whatsoever himself pleaseth; in his sight all things are open and manifest, his knowledge is infinite, infallible, and independent upon the creature, so as nothing is to him contingent or uncertain; he is most holy in all his counsels, in all his works, and in all his commands; to him is due from angels and men, whatsoever worship, service, or obedience, as creatures they owe unto the Creator, and whatever he is further pleased to require of them. ( John 5:26; Psalms 148:13; Psalms 119:68; Job 22:2, 3; Romans 11:34-36; Daniel 4:25, 34, 35; Hebrews 4:13; Ezekiel 11:5; Acts 15:18

In this audio message, Scott Brown first explains what the power of the Holy Spirit looks like in a church. The primary manifestation of the power of the Holy Spirit is that people become more sanctified. It changes the entire orientation of the church. He then discusses how the Gospel is displayed in a marriage through the submission of a wife. John 16:13 (NKJV) - "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come."

Some Christians rarely think of the Spirit of God. Many think of the Spirit as useful to give us success in Christian living and ministry. Others consider Him a source of mystical experiences. However, the Bible reminds us almost a hundred times that the Spirit is holy and the giver of holiness. By examining a deadly confrontation between the Holy Spirit and hypocrites in the church, this message will show that the Spirit is the holy God who stands against this wicked world, and yet also the Spirit of Christ who is multiplying a holy people—one changed life at a time. I. The Holiness of the Spirit’s Person A. The Spirit’s Holiness and His Glory as God B. The Spirit’s Holiness and the Spirits of the World II. The Holiness of the Spirit’s Work A. The Spirit’s Holiness and the Sanctity of the Church B. The Spirit’s Holiness and the Advance of the Kingdom

"There is no Christianity without the Holy Spirit." Everything in the Christian life rests on the help and power of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit who enables us to repent and believe. It is the Holy Spirit who gives us power to hate and resist sin. It is the Holy Spirit who is at work in opening out minds to know and understand the scriptures. It is the Holy Spirit who makes us holy and conformed to the image of Christ. Without his power and help, we can do nothing.

How does the Holy Spirit impact the life of a believer? Joel Beeke explains in this video that the Holy Spirit begins a saving work in your life. The natural man is full of sin. But, the work of the Holy Spirit helps to make us increasingly more Christ-like. Last, the Holy Spirit also helps us to love the Word of God more and the ways of God. John 14:26 (NKJV) - "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you."

In this clip Pastor Marcus Serven explains the importance of, and the power of, simply reading the Word of God in church and at home.

In this video we learn of the importance of prioritizing the worship of God above all ells. If worship is not prioritized above all ells then we will never properly be prepared.  Until our hearts have a longing desire to be before the most holy God then we will never properly prepare ourselves and our families. Proper preparation begins by examining our hearts.