Church at the Cross : Sunday Messages

Welcome to the weekly podcast of Church at the Cross in Grapevine, TX, led by Pastor JR Vassar. Our mission is to help people and places encounter Jesus. Wherever you are today, our hope is that you would be encouraged, challenged, and inspired to take the next step in your relationship with Jesus. For more info, visit churchatthecross.com!

Unconditional Election | Romans 9:1-16 04/21/2024

Unconditional Election | Romans 9:1-16 Scripture: Key Takeaways: 1. God did not promise salvation to every ethnic Israelite, but only to those he chose to be recipients of his saving love (). 2. Generally speaking, Israel did not respond to Jesus in faith (). 3. God faithfulness to Israel is seen in that there is a believing remnant (). 4. God’s faithfulness to his promise to Israel will one day be seen in greater measure when God saves Israel in great numbers (). The Doctrine of Election “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” “13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth.” “1 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness,” “1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,” “12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,” Many Christians throughout history have disagreed on this passage and on how to understand the doctrine of election. Arminians and Calvinists. At CATC we don’t have a flag, but we have a flavor. The Doctrine of God’s sovereign election of particular sinners for salvation rarely sits well with us when we first hear it. This is not a Pauline doctrine. Jesus taught this emphatically. Personal salvation is ultimately grounded in God’s sovereign unconditional election of particular, undeserving sinners. “28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.” This doctrine humbles us to the dust. This doctrine gives you tremendous boldness. /episode/index/show/churchatthecross/id/30919018

Does God Keep His Promises? | Romans 9:1-13 04/14/2024

Good Questions | Week 4: Why Do You Call Me Lord And Do Not Do What I Say? | Luke 6:46-49 04/08/2024

Good Questions | Easter | Week 3: Why Do You Seek The Living Among The Dead? | Luke 24:1-12 04/02/2024

Good Questions | Week 2: Why Do You Spend Your Money On What Is Not Bread? | Isaiah 55:1-9 03/25/2024

Good Questions | Week 1: Where Are You? | Genesis 3:1-15 03/18/2024

The Love of God and Christian Assurance | Romans 8:31-39 03/10/2024

All Things for Good | Romans 8:28-30 03/03/2024

Prayer, Let's Get Practical | John 16:20-28 02/25/2024

The Spirit’s Presence and Prayers | Romans 8:26-27 02/19/2024

Future Glory | Romans 8:18-25 02/12/2024

Adopted: Too Good + So True | Romans 8:12-17 02/05/2024

Flesh or Spirit? | Romans 8:5-11 01/28/2024

Accepted and Free | Romans 8:1-4 01/22/2024

Accepted and Free | Romans 8:1-4 Text: Romans 8:1-4 Notes: + In Jesus you have all the acceptance you will ever need. - John 12:42-43 - 1 Corinthians 4:3-4 "To please God… to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness… to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son- it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so it is." — C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory. “We all automatically gravitate toward the assumption that we are justified by our level of sanctification, and when this posture is adopted, it inevitably focuses our attention not on Christ but on the adequacy of our own obedience. We start each day with our personal security resting not on the accepting love of God and the sacrifice of Christ but on our present feelings or recent achievements in the Christian life.” Richard Lovelace, Dynamics of Spiritual Life: An Evangelical Theology of Renewal (Preaching and Teaching for Individual Renewal). + In Jesus you have all the freedom you need. + Dominion – Desire – Deeds – Death - Romans 6:12 - Romans 6:20-21 - Romans 7:5 - Romans 7:15 - Romans 7:20 - Romans 6:20-23 “There is no greater mockery than to call a sinner a free man. Show me a convict toiling in the chain gang, and call him a free man if you will; point out to me the galley slave chained to the oar, and smarting under the taskmaster’s lash whenever he pauses to draw breath, and call him a free man if you will; but never call a sinner a free man, even in his will, so long as he is the slave of his own corruptions. In our natural state, we wore chains, not upon our limbs, but upon our hearts, fetters that bound us, and kept us from God, from rest, from peace, from holiness, from anything like freedom of heart and conscience and will. The iron entered into our soul; and there is no slavery as terrible as that. As there is no freedom like the freedom of the spirit, so is there no slavery that is at all comparable to the bondage of the heart.” - Charles Spurgeon + Dominion - Desire - Deeds - LIFE! + Jesus dying for us is necessary for the Spirit living in us. - Galatians 3:13-14 - Romans 13:8-10 “Run, John, run, the law commands but gives us neither feet or hands. Far better news the gospel brings: it bids us fly and gives us wings.” – John Bunyan. /episode/index/show/churchatthecross/id/29593238