January 31, 2012
"The gospel, applied to our hearts every day, frees us to be brutally honest with ourselves and with God. The assurance of His total forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Christ means we don't have to play defensive games anymore. We don't have to rationalize and excuse our sins. We can say we told a lie instead of saying we exaggerated a bit. We can admit an unforgiving spirit instead of continuing to blame our parents for our emotional distress. We can call sin exactly what it is, regardless of how ugly and shameful it may be, because we know that Jesus bore that sin in His body on the cross. With the assurance of total forgiveness through Christ, we have no reason to hide from our sins anymore."...
January 6, 2012
I'm at a season of life where it seems like it's time to slow down. Nothing is working quite right anymore. I need glasses for aging eyes and anti-inflammtories for aging joints. I forget names and what commonly used household gadgets are called. Solitude invites me to steal away (which I enjoy doing at times!) while a growing family and new church lovingly require me to get even busier than ever. The commercials say Benny and I should be anticipating retirement after all the years of being in the throes of parenting and pastoring. Sometimes I envy those who can....
October 29, 2014 by | Category: Sermon Review | Tags: Benny Phillips, blog, sermon, sermon review, gospel, from slavery to sonship, the law, Galatians series, Redeemer Church, Lake Nona Church, lake Nona, Lake Nona Churches, Who You Are in Christ, lee vista, lee vista church, redeemerchurch, redeemer, lakenonachurch, redeemer blog, preaching the gospel, gospel-centered preaching, church blog, Redeemer Church of Lake Nona, Galatians, Redeemer Lake Nona, Redeemer Church at Lake Nona
Benny Phillips continued Redeemer's Galatians series, preaching on Galatians 3:15-25 on Sunday. So far in the letter to the Galatians, Paul has a specific flow of thought: He has established that we are saved, justified and redeemed only by faith in Christ and not through righteousness of our own. Any careful reader (or listener) will inevitably have questions about wher...
Keep ReadingJuly 22, 2014 | 3 Comments | Category: Identity Series | Tags: Identity, Suffering, Redeemer Church, Lake Nona Church, lake Nona, bible, Orlando Church, Lake Nona Churches, Scripture, In Christ, Who You Are in Christ, lee vista, lee vista church, redeemerchurch, redeemer, lakenonachurch, redeemer blog, joseph
The suffering in our lives keeps us from doing and experiencing many good things, and it often teaches us bad things. Suffering has the tendency to pervert our perception of the world around us. Children who grow up abused often have uniquely distorted views of God, self, and others. Those who suffer traumatic experiences in any stage of life often have difficulty engaging...
Keep ReadingJuly 15, 2014 | Category: Identity Series | Tags: Redeemer Church, Lake Nona Church, lake Nona, Lake Nona Churches, Identity, Who You Are in Christ, lee vista, Adoption, lee vista church, redeemerchurch, redeemer, lakenonachurch, redeemer blog
In my last article, I described our core identity in terms of being God's image-bearers, but if you survey the New Testament, you'll find its overarching understanding of our identity in Christ is that we are sons, co-heirs, siblings of Christ destined to become like Christ. So, we must ask the question: is the New Testament replacing the Old Testament image-bearer motif w...
Keep ReadingMay 29, 2014 | Category: Cultural Values | Tags: cultural values, About Us, Lake Nona Church, vision, Who You Are in Christ, lee vista church
This #CulturalValues talk is about homosexuality " well, sort of. It’s about the LGBT movement, or the LBQGTITZFOB or whatever they are called now " although,as you’ll see, that’s kind of the point. This talk has two major points. I want to address the present reality (homosexuality) and I want to address the future possibilities, or the future goals of the LGBT move...
Keep ReadingMarch 21, 2014 by Benny Phillips | Category: Redeemer Church News | Tags: Who You Are in Christ, Identity, In Christ, lake Nona, Lake Nona Church, Lake Nona Churches, Benny Phillips
Our identity, he taught, is not defined by our roles. But our God-given roles guide us in how we are to live out our identity in Christ....
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