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About the Believers – Called

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Romans 8:30 And those whom He predestinated, these He also called; and those whom He called, these He also justified; and those whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Ephesians 1:18 The eyes of your heart having been enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of His calling, and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

Ephesians 4:1 I beseech you therefore, I, the prisoner in the Lord, to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called,

Fellowship to help us know Christ and pursue Him

Every believer is a called one. I grew up knowing that certain ones served God because at a certain point in their lives, God would call them. They received “a calling”, I had been taught. Little did I realize that one day, I myself would also be called. What we find in God’s word is that every believer is a called one – “those whom He predestinated, these He also called.” (Romans 8:30) If it weren’t for God Himself calling us, we wouldn’t be saved.

When God called us, we were in the middle of our own pursuits. Why did He call us? It was not just to leave us there. He has a purpose and His calling has a purpose. When God called Saul of Tarsus, he answered, “Who are You, Lord?” (Acts 9:5) He also asked, “What do you want me to do?” (Acts 22:10). As the called ones, we must be like Saul who became the apostle Paul. The Lord has called us. We should likewise ask Him, “Who are You, Lord?” and “What do you want me to do?”.  We can fully trust in the Lord our God, who has called us. We can put our life in His hands. This One who has created all things and predestinated us and called us has a purpose and a plan. Why not open ourselves to Him in faith?

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About the Believers – Predestinated

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Ephesians 1:5 Predestinating us unto sonship through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

Romans 8:29 Because those whom He foreknew, He also predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers;

Fellowship to help us know Christ and pursue Him

God knows all things, the past, the present, and the future. He is the source and initiator. Therefore, before you and I were born, He knew us. Not only so, but He looked at all those whom He would create and marked them for a certain destiny. This was His predestinating us as is mentioned in Ephesians 1:5. In his translation of the Bible, John Nelson Darby used the words “having marked out”. In fact, God marked us out for something really special, to be His many sons (Ephesians 1:5) and to be conformed to the image of His Son Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29). You might ask yourself, “why did He do such a thing, and why did He choose Me?” The same verse tells us that He did it according to the good pleasure of His will. This just says that God likes you.
The verse prior, Ephesians 1:4 says, “Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before Him in love”. Therefore, we’ve been chosen and predestinated. No one knows why He chooses one over another, but we can say that there is something in His heart for you.

The following story about D.L. Moody really helps to make this point clear.

D. L. Moody encouraged his seminary students to preach the gospel. A student, who heard Moody’s teaching on predestination in class, was impressed and did not dare to preach the gospel, because he had a problem. He said to Moody, “I dare not preach the gospel now.” Moody asked him why, and he said, “When I am preaching, I look at a person and consider whether he is predestinated; I look at another and consider whether he is chosen. If God has not chosen and predestinated these ones, and they are eventually persuaded by me to believe in the Lord, will I not be making a big mistake?” Moody then replied, “Brother, just do your best to persuade him. As long as you can persuade someone to believe in the Lord, he has been chosen and predestinated by God.” Then Moody went on to say, “At the entrance of heaven, the words whoever will may come are written on the outside; this means that whoever believes can be saved. But once a person passes through the entrance and looks back, he will see written on the inside, ‘You have been predestinated.’ Outside of the entrance is whoever, but inside of the gate is predestinated.” Thus, when leading those who have passed through the entrance and have been baptized, we should say, “You have been predestinated by God. You believed in the Lord and were saved because God picked you out and marked you out a long time ago.” (Lessons for New Believers, Lesson 1, published by Living Stream Ministry)

Isn’t that a helpful story? Now we can only worship God and thank Him, and tell Him that -we like Him, too.

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The Common Faith

The common faith is what we believe in. This is what we stand for and contend for. We can be general about so many other things, but with the common faith, we should be precise and unwavering. It is common because all genuine believers have it in common and treasure it. For our college years, for our working life, and for our whole life, it is important to be equipped with the knowledge of the common faith; this is a fundamental need of all Christians. This Bible study presents 8 items of the common faith that we can count on and treasure for our whole life. Item by item, we will be able to express what we believe in.

Podcasts

Bible Studies

The Common Faith – Item 1 – The Bible

For our Bible study on the common faith, the first item we cover is the Bible. The Bible is where we find the word of God and the contents of our faith. 

The Common Faith – Item 2 – The Triune God

For this second item of the common faith we come to the Triune God. First, we’ll see that God is one. Then we’ll see that God is Triune.

The Common Faith – Item 3 – God Becoming a Man

The third matter of the common faith is that God Himself became a man (Jesus Christ).

The Common Faith – Item 4 – Christ Died for Our Sins

By becoming a man, God accomplished a great thing: He died for our sins. Our sins were like a debt we could not pay. So, Christ came and paid it for us.

The Common Faith – Item 5 – Christ Resurrected on the Third Day

Three days after Christ died on the cross, He resurrected from among the dead. This is proof that His death was effective. However, His resurrection also accomplished other things.

The Common Faith – Item 6 – Christ’s Ascension

In the middle of this heated election season, what we desperately need is to see the ascended Christ. Therefore, this week, we come to another item of the common faith – Christ’s ascension.

The Common Faith – Item 7 – Repentance, Believing, and Regeneration

Our salvation starts by believing into the Lord Jesus and repenting of our past. Immediately after this, we are regenerated, which is to be born again.

The Common Faith – Item 8 – Christ Coming Again

The final point we will cover for this series on the common faith is: Christ Coming Again. We have seen that Christ has done everything to save us! His word reveals that He became a man, just like you and me…

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Event Coming up: 2020 Fall College Conference

Reach out to us and find out how to register!2020 Fall College Conference

You are warmly invited to join us for our Fall Mountain States College Conference.

Topic: The Gospel of John

Dates/Times (Mountain Time):
Session 1—Friday, November 6, 7:30 pm
Session 2—Saturday, November 7, 10:30 am
Special Topic—Saturday, November 7, 1 pm
Session 3—Saturday, November 7, 7:30 pm
Session 4—Sunday, November 8, 10:30 am

The meetings will be conducted via live Zoom webinar and group discussions.

May the Lord bless us all during this time.

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Fall 2020 Reading Challenge – 1 & 2 Thessalonians

This fall, we are going to be getting into 1st and 2nd Thessalonians.  In these letters, the apostle Paul touches some very serious points which have to do with serving God, how to conduct ourselves, and the Lord’s second coming. In 2nd Thessalonians, the apostle encourages and even corrects the believers in Thessalonica. We hope that everyone will set aside a time each week to read a chapter, either by themselves or with others.

The following is a schedule for our reading this semester:

Week 1: 9/12-9/18: 1 Thess. Chapter 1

Week 2: 9/19-9/25: 1 Thess. Chapter 2

Week 3: 9/26-10/2: 1 Thess. Chapter 3

Week 4: 10/3-10/9: 1 Thess. Chapter 4

Week 5: 10/10-10/16: 1 Thess. Chapter 5

Week 6: 10/17-10/23: 2 Thess. Chapter 1

Week 7: 10/24-10/30: 2 Thess. Chapter 2

Week 8: 10/31-11/6: 2 Thess. Chapter 3

You can also use this link to join a Bible tracker where you’ll be emailed the chapter each week and also check it off!

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Gospel Meeting: A World in Crisis

This next hour may change your life. It’s all about Jesus Christ.

He is the fountain that never runs dry. When we believe in Him, He comes to live in us and satisfies our deepest thirst. He really does!

For My people have committed two evils: / They have forsaken Me, / The fountain of living waters, / To hew out for themselves cisterns, / Broken cisterns, / Which hold no water.  – Jeremiah 2:13

We are pleased to share this good-news-video with you! It comes from the church in Irvine, California. Watch, Open your Heart, and See how Jesus Christ is such a fountain, and how He can be yours, too!

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Looking back at the 2019 North America College Training – Why Post This Now?

In addition to a glorious full week of the college training, there were also 40 days of prayer surrounding this event which laid the tracks for God to bless this generation of college students. Why post this now? Take a look at the last item of prayer from the 40 days:

The lasting impact of this college training, including upon those who did not have the chance to attend.

All 40 items of prayer can be found at the College Training Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/collegetraining)

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Looking back at the 2019 North America College Training – Video

The Jubilee!

How many registered for the July 2019, North America College Training?… 2781
Where was it located?… University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
What did Christians on Campus at the University of Utah have to say about this full-week event? Find out in this 3 minute vid. 

We firmly believe that the Lord blessed this college training in particular. He answered many of the prayers from the 40 days of prayer surrounding this event. Thank and praise our Lord Jesus Christ. He is our real Jubilee!