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Join host, Tuck Choate, and executive pastor, Bennett Holloway, as they discuss Temple Church's Sunday sermons in more detail, explore everyday application of biblical truths, and answer listener questions - all to help you strengthen you in your spiritual walk. Expect meaningful conversations that will encourage you in your faith journey.
Tuck Choate 0:08
Welcome temple family and friends, we're so glad to have you joining us for another episode of Temple talk. This podcast aims to engage our faith community through thoughtful biblical discussions centered on God's word. Our goal is to explore Scripture together to discover the wisdom that has for our lives. In this podcast, we'll be diving deep into God's truths and discussing how they impact our daily living. We're eager to unpack the riches of the Bible with you all our extended church family. And now here's welcome temple family and friends to another episode of Temple talk. Happy 2024 And Happy New Year.
Bennett Holloway 0:43
Yes.
Tuck Choate 0:45
And we are really excited about this episode. I will, I will say so this episode title that Dr. York was giving us was all things new. Yes. And Bennett and I have been talking before we started this for almost 45 minutes back and forth, just kind of figuring out where we are on all of this. And then have just been kind of doing deep dives and tangents and looking things up and talking through things and my heating and fun leading you
Bennett Holloway 1:20
to salvation.
Tuck Choate 1:21
Thank you. Appreciate.
Bennett Holloway 1:24
Now, it's been a lot of fun. And in a way that you described it talk that I thought was a beautiful way to, you know, go over this as as we're working through this passage in Second Corinthians, Dr. Ewart intentionally reveals the ripples on the surface of some very deep wells that we're going to touch, we're going to talk through some election and predestination topics, along with giving our listeners a good balance of understanding some soteriology views, some of the most common ones, and then we're going to just keep working through this passage. And hopefully, it's a tool that can one either ask some tough questions, but to lead all of us into studying the Word of God, so that the Lord can really reveal where we stand while taking into consideration. Wise theologians of the early church, and you know, have have the Reformation to inform us on kind of some stances, that and where we stand in these topics. So I'm excited about this. I'm excited about all things are new. I'm a big fan of New Years, I'm a big fan of new things talk, do you have any amazing resolutions or challenges, or perspectives or intentions that you have this year,
Tuck Choate 2:51
I, we are going to try our best to continue to do good things. There is a big sign as you go into our neighborhood that says New Year's resolutions are made slowly and broken quickly. And it hurt our soul to see it. But it's so true sometimes is that it you know, just kind of on a whim, you lose the things that you had planned for. So we're, we've gotten away from these grand resolutions, and we're just going to try and be healthier, and be in the Bible more.
Bennett Holloway 3:24
I'm like, I'm so contradictory. I really am like every year man, I'm a kind of guy where if I don't if I'm not resolute, if I don't clearly defined, if I don't frame pray through and begin to work towards goals, then I kind of have I know that I will not meet the expectations of what I've done. I don't think all resolutions are just broken. I think that wise ones are fulfilled. And I do think that they're very healthy while saying that this year, guess what my convictions were. I'm gonna write down intentions. I literally and it's so frustrating to say that. But yeah, same thing. Working towards two main primary category is for me and my family. And that is some intentionality in journaling and reflective prayer time. And then the other one that is a primary for us is scripture memorization. And so those two are things that I'm working on. But then I also have my private little personal goals that I've articulated, but it's kind of more intentionality and working towards that, while continuing to dive deeper into the study of healthy rhythms of life, life and rest when I'm abiding in Christ and yet yoke to him and the burden is easy and light. And so these things are kind of what I'm spending a lot of my time this year for focusing on not so much some of the measurables than I usually do. I do have one for book reading. But outside of that the rest are more immeasurable, more intentional, kind of more emphasis in my life. And so I'm with you there. But well, let's just jump in. Let's do it. Yeah.
Tuck Choate 5:22
So So Dr. Your, his sermon was about the transformative power of salvation in Christ. And he highlighted the profound and he used alliteration to help us chants champion and change that it brings to believers. Yes. So we were discussing here, salvation. And like you said, this is a deep well read, people have been debating on for centuries and millennium, we have figured out that and we solved it, we're gonna give it to you.
Bennett Holloway 5:56
So for easy payments of 990. So one of the things that I was telling talk about this is, you know, when I first began to really own my personal relationship with Jesus Christ, that means not come to saving knowledge, but begin actually owning it and changing the way that I live and steward my time, my thought processes, my my worldview, through scripture, and through my relationship with God, I came to the conclusion that I'm going to solve these two things. One in for yourself, yeah. For me, I was going to be able to clearly no and end the debate on two categories. One of them is how can in Scripture say that God hardened the heart of Pharaoh, which will lead to the Passover, and the oldest of all the households of these children being killed? And how can God be the one that made it happen? And that really, I had a hard time with that. And the other topic was this really soteriology, this debate on Arminianism versus Calvinism? And, and so I did a deep dive into these things. And my objective was to come to the solution. And we're actually touching on those today. And so,
Tuck Choate 7:14
so for those of us who aren't clear on definitions, yes. You said, Calvinism and Arminianism. Right? Personally, I had Kurt heard of Calvinism my entire life. I was I was told we are not Calvinism. But I had never heard Arminianism. So we have gone through in the last hour or so. The definition. So just for everyone, so we're on the same page of what we're talking about, can you kind of go through what those two theories of thought are?
Bennett Holloway 7:45
Yeah. So when you've got Calvinism versus Arminianism, you've got John Calvin, and James, Jacob or mineus. And so these two men that lived during the Reformation time, they came up with an ability to articulate from a biblical perspective soteriology and that is the belief in how one is saved or justified. And so I just would say, you know, overall, what we're talking about, here are the words of man to articulate the justification that takes place in the soul of a person when they accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. So we're, I just want to say that this is this is this is manmade articulation. Okay. And so that's why this is a, you know, big debate. So there's five points of Calvinism that they would describe is total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, the perseverance of the saints. And these five, the acronym is to Libba. So if you hear references, and if you go back and listen to his sermon, Dr. Europe does a reference of tulip and he makes a joke about the five points and and for those that understand Calvinist theology is, you know, these are the five ways that you describe it, these these five letters that represent these five points of Calvinism and, and we're not going to spend a ton of time dipping into all of those. But on the other side, the these these five points of really Arminianism is that you know, compared to total depravity, you've got the free will of man. And conditional election or general atonement or universal redemption is another one. The Holy Spirit can be effectually resisted, like I can, I can resist the god versus Calvin's view of irresistible grace. I can reject the gospel I can reject the gift of salvation all So Armenians believes that you can fall from grace. Those who believe and are truly saved can lose their salvation by failing to keep their faith. And so these two camps are used often in the consistent debate. And the way one person put it, that I found it really funny is I'm neither a Calvinist or a mineus, or I'm neither Calvinist or a minion. I'm a biblical cyst. And while I do think it is incredibly important to study, the men, that have come before us, as they've articulated their theology, and God has revealed a lot of things through them for us today. I also, the word of God is sovereign, it rules at reigns it is perfect, and it sits above the articulation of man. And so I think that's something really important that we come to because some people, they place the words of man above the Word of God. And I think it's always just a healthy disposition to acknowledge that the word of God speaks for itself. While we can support our understanding of the word of God, with the word of man, the word of man doesn't define the word of God. Does that make sense? Yeah,
Tuck Choate 11:20
absolutely. You know, and Philippians two tells us work out your own salvation. And so I believe that is a very true thing that that we need to be digging into the Bible itself, as you were saying, and figuring out where we stand with how we read this, you know, the holy spirit is within us and can help us translate the Bible. And then we can look and we can see what other people have thought there. There are many very smart people who have devoted their lives to reading and interpreting the gospel. But for every Calvin, there is a Armenian, or mineus, you know, that seemed to say different things. So it's, it's hard to say, Well, I'm just gonna go to this person and believe what they believe it's not gonna work that way for us, right.
Bennett Holloway 12:09
And for someone, like, for someone like me, as I sit and I look through John Calvin's articulation of his stance, the reason why I don't sit there and say I'm a staunch five point Calvinist is, because there's two of his topics, that I wouldn't phrase them the way that he phrased them, I get his intent of how he's communicating them. But I think it miss communicates, it actually does for me, it miscommunicate something. And so I would rearrange them in a way to still communicate the biblical perspective. But I do find myself leaning more in that camp. And so what I would love to do with you is we'll walk through Second Corinthians and, and let us go, we're going to touch on Second Corinthians, we're going to jump into Ephesians, we've referenced Philippians. John 16, is going to be touched here. And this is all for the very first two points, as we try to navigate and unpack the chances of salvation. And
Tuck Choate 13:18
I'll go ahead and point out since you said that you lean more towards the Calvinist side, you know, you and I had discussed I lean more towards the Armenian side, as far as the way that he phrases, things, particulates. And we came to the conclusion, you and I are still brothers. That's right, we are still Christians, and we are still working out our own faith. And we also have the discussion that, you know, sometimes our views on the Bible change as we as we navigate and study, because we don't know everything,
Bennett Holloway 13:48
right, the revelation of who he is and how he operates. As I grow in my understanding of him, his character, and the world I find myself in it reveals more and more my ignorance, my brokenness and my need for a Savior, but also my limitations to comprehend that which is incomprehensible, right? And so, so that's where I consistently keep coming back to man, the word of God, that is sovereign, that rules that reigns us perfect. It is an errant it is where I will continue to be anchored in, but my confidence in saying, I know it all decreases as time goes on. Well,
Tuck Choate 14:36
and we're using my limited vocabulary or the English human language, to describe ideas of a sovereign and holy God that is removed, removed from time and space and everything else that you know, eventually we just have to say, ultimately, I believe in God. I believe that God has this and he has told me to have confidence in my salvation, whatever that looks like. And my job is to do the best I can to live the best life and to bring other people to it. That's right.
Bennett Holloway 15:12
So obey the Word of God to live by the Bible, and then continue to have a humble spirit as we keep studying. So let's do it. Let's jump in. So we got second Corinthians chapter five, I'm going to start in verse 16. It says, Therefore, from now on, we recognize no one according to the flesh, even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet we know him in this way, no longer. So dark viewer doesn't teach on that right there. But he references it. Paul is writing through describing the process of people that have known Christ when He walked and then known the resurrected Christ, and then the Ascended Christ. And so we know him no longer in this way. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature, the old things have passed away, behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he was committed to us. And he has committed to us the word of reconciliation, therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God we're making an appeal through us, we beg you, on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. So this passage of Scripture, he touches, a pleading and begging to be reconciled, he acknowledges the sovereignty of God, that we were dead in our sins, the consequences of the fallen nature, the consequences of sin in the world, and our death, brought back to life resurrected as Christ was, he acknowledges that God's the only one that does it, that can do it. And it's done through the person of Christ. And so let's jump in. And let's walk through those points that Dr. You were brought up the chance and the champion, and then the change, because he at the beginning of this message, he jumped in, and he described how difficult it is just by mere observation, to look at a person and come to the conclusion on whether or not they're saved or not. We don't walk around with a big scarlet letter on our chest that says II elect, which was a joke that he made, right. So we don't we don't get to I don't get to judge that. I'm not the judge. But it's very difficult for me to be able to look at a human and just immediately be able to come to an understand understood knowledge of they're saved, or they're not saved. With that being said, we do acknowledge that they will know you by your fruit, and the fruit of our working out our salvation, right, the way that we are Christ, the way that we love, right, you will be known that you are my disciple, by the way that you love, these things will become evident that we're followers of Jesus Christ. I've actually been served in restaurants or in different capacities where I could tell that the waiter or the person serving me was a Christian. And I asked him, because of this, the way that they were, the way that they acted the way that they serve the way that they encouraged the way that they carry themselves. And I would ask us, Are you a believer in Jesus Christ? I said, Yes, I am. And I could just tell by the way that they treated me, right. And so that can happen, the fruit is not something to be overlooked. I'm just coming to the conclusion, let us not overlook the fruit and the impact of the fruit that's in the Word of God, it's incredibly important. But for each and every single believer, their salvation, and whether or not they're saved is a very personal thing. And what's difficult in the western world that we find ourselves in, is that people have had knowledge of who God is, and who Christ is. But they have not surrendered Lordship, rule and reign. And so, when we look out in our congregation, when we when we look at our group of friends, we can't know in confidence, who is or isn't saved just by a glance. And that makes things difficult, because what it ends up doing is it ends up putting the burden of knowing and being confident and being saved on a personal level. So the question that's inevitably posed throughout this entire process is are you saved? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior because his final plead? I beg you on behalf of Christ Be reconciled to God, this ministry of reconciliation that we're supposed to flesh out, which we'll talk about in a second was done for us by God. So we were receivers of it, then therefore, communicators of it. And that's, in order to communicate it, you've got to receive it. And so that's just a very difficult way that it's framed. And it really drives everything towards me. And if you are not, then I hope through this podcast that you can maybe wrestle with some difficult things, to not doubt your salvation, to become more confident in it right. But to start from there, and if you have not yet been saved, I hope that he reveals that and we've been praying that this is something that he uses to allow hearts to soften, and eyes to be opened to the reality of you and I, we need to be saved. And so if you haven't done it, you can. So he jumps in the chance. So let's start with understanding salvation chances. Go ahead.
Tuck Choate 21:07
So he dives in and he speaks to to the idea that that Christ has died for for you, you know, we've made that specific before. The Bible says He died for all people, right for the for the world. I think it's maybe it was in our small group, that we were talking through this and when you make it more personal, it hits a little different. And so you can you can reword that, and it says, For God so loved the world that He died for tuck He died for me.
Bennett Holloway 21:39
Yeah, for God so loved. Yeah, for God so loved Tuck. And so it's
Tuck Choate 21:42
that idea of he has given me specifically me a chance right now, to make a decision one way or another? Do I? What do I do with that? Do I take it? Do I Do I reject it? And this is where you know, one of those points of Calvinism comes in is, you know, do I have that freewill to be able to, to act on that. And there's a there's a school of thought that says when I'm hit with that it's irresistible, I have to have to react to it. On another side, it, it seems like, you know, maybe that feeling is just the irresistible nature of the Holy Spirit. And he's taking my Free Will saying, Hey, make this choice, do it. Right. It's one of those things that is difficult on the outside, like you were saying, to see whether or not someone saved. It's also hard to see within ourselves, Am I making this decision? Is God helping me make that is he softening my heart, all of those things are true, right, all at the same time.
Bennett Holloway 22:40
So let's let's jump into this passage that helps articulate some of it, John 16. And starting in verse 13. But when He, the Spirit of truth comes as the Holy Spirit, He will guide you unto all the truth, for He will not speak on His own initiative. but whatever He hears, He will speak and He will disclose to you what is to come, He will glorify Me, this is Jesus, for he will take of Mine, and will disclose it to you all the things that the father of the father our mind, therefore, I've said he takes up mine, and will disclose it to you, Jesus is describing the Holy Spirit's role of drawing people into salvation, the revelation of who God is, who Christ is, the blind, this is the blindness that leads to really a lack of understanding is removed by the Holy Spirit. So it's John 16. And then if we jump over to Ephesians, and we just jump into chapter two, we begin to understand the consequences of sin, and where kind of we can where we can really be confident in what the role of God is. Throughout this, it's chapter two, it says, You were dead in your trespasses and sins, you were dead, right? And in which you formally walked according to the course of this world, according to the, to the prints of the power of the air, of the spirit, that is now working on the sons of disobedience among them, we to all formerly lift in the lusts of our flesh, indulging in the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and we're by nature, children of wrath. So this is speaking to the way that we were before being saved. We're dead, children of wrath, our nature, this is just the consequences of our fallen world that we find ourselves in. But God, being rich in mercy, because of his grace, listen to all of these. It's all him love. of His great love which He loved us even when we were dead in our transgressions, He made us alive with Christ by grace, you have been saved, and raised up with Him, and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ, so that the ages to come, that he might show his surpassing riches of grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus, for it is by grace that you have been saved through faith, that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast so that we can hold on to his true, we can come back to this understanding that it is it is not of us. And it is not of our works, that we were dead in our trespasses, we were lost. And now we're saved. It's a gift that He's given. By grace, you've been saved through faith. And so the chances of salvation it's a it's a beautiful topic to touch as we navigate. Corinthians. But it's a it's an interesting one. Because he says, Therefore, now, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature, if anyone is in Christ. So before we transition into the next point, my question that I would pose to all that listeners, are you in Christ? Right, you must answer that question. Knowing about him is great. knowing all the facts, going through the motions, going to church, reading your Bible, to praying, all these things are incredibly important. But they pale in comparison of having a position of being in Christ,
Tuck Choate 26:58
when it's a foundation, if you don't have the right foundation of being in Christ. None of that matters. It may get you to that foundation by buying it in and of itself without salvation. Right.
Bennett Holloway 27:10
Well, I mean, reading the Word of God, and applying the truth of Scripture. There are benefits to that, of course,
Tuck Choate 27:16
of course, but ultimately, if I'm not saying eternally, eternally, right, yes, yeah, that's where I got to get to significant
Bennett Holloway 27:22
consequences, eternal consequences. And so if our The question is, are you one of those that is in Christ that he references here, because if you are some really good news, write some really good news. So. So understanding salvation chances. Now, let's walk through some of the the champion, what it means, as in Christ.
Tuck Choate 27:48
Right. So, so then he emphasized the salvation is only in Christ alone. It's this exclusivity that he talks through about, you know, it challenges the contemporary views of religious tolerance, right, that, you know, people have said, we're all going up the same mountain, and we're just going different paths. And he fights back with this scripture is saying, No, it is only in Christ alone, it is a it is a narrow path.
Bennett Holloway 28:18
Right. And I mean, Jesus also says this, you cannot get to the Father, but through me, right. And so, I am the way I am the truth, I am the Life and and so it keeps being drawn back to. If you believe that there are many ways, then you do not believe the Word of God, you cannot believe both because one, the word of God, verily very clearly articulates, there is one way, and it's only through the person of Christ. So and so if we find ourselves in Christ. Now, let's say we've worked through this, and we understand that, yes, I have. I've accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, or I think I have, okay. And I understand who Christ is that he came that it will one he's always existed, he was present in terms of the Trinity was present, before the creation itself took place, that we know that he always has been and always will be, that he came down in the fullness of time and was born a virgin, he was both man and God. He lived a sinless life. For 30 years he was working and growing and developing, and then inevitably, boom, the time came where his ministry began. And so he was baptized. He was publicly declared by the audible voice of God. This is my son, of whom I'm well pleased that his baptism, the Holy Spirit then descends and rests upon him which fulfills a promise To see that the Messiah, the Holy Spirit will rest upon Him. Because He is God in man, but also his his purity, his perfection, right. And so now he's walking, empowered by the Holy Spirit goes to the wilderness, he does a dance with the devil. He comes back having with having overcome the temptations, and he's beginning to usher in the reality of the Kingdom as he heals. And as he saves, and as he casts out demons, and as he begins to teach something that is contradictory to the culture, and then inevitably, it leads him to the cross, and He has died, and he is crucified. And the very people that sang hosanna hosanna are the same ones that declared Crucify Him, Crucify Him, and avidly leading him to a spot to say forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. He dies, right? He dies, and he's buried. And three days later, he rises again, revealing himself to followers of Christ, hundreds of people in different locations, and in amazing, beautiful ways the resurrected body of Christ and Bolton's the church, as they continue in this journey of establishing the very thing that we get to benefit from that we believe in today. And so these, these disciples that are making disciples, and they're sharing the everything points back to this person, Christ, everything, who is both God and man, the son, empowered by the Holy Spirit promises, the coming, and the sending of the Holy Spirit for all those that have put their faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, the seal, the Holy Spirit. And so that is the person. And so it is only in Christ, because there's nothing that you can do. There's no way that you can live. There's no level of honestly, articulation that earns you these things. It's by the work of Christ. And it's for those that have put their faith in Him and His work. That is, in Christ alone. So when we think through the champion, that's him, and it's Christ, if Christ is Christ, through and through, and all things are seated, or he is at the right hand of the Father, and all things are beneath his feet, he rules, he reigns, he's a name above all names, he is the King of kings. This is our champion, Jesus Christ. So if someone accepts Him as their Lord and Savior acknowledges who he is, the next point that Dr. Your work through is the change that must take place.
Tuck Choate 32:54
Right? So. So this is, I think, where a lot of us as as Christians now kind of really need to focus in on like, we're on board that, that we need to, to take that salvation. We've been there for many of us years ago. It's been through Jesus. And then now I think we all need to then relook again, and check in on on our change. Right. So the the whole idea is that this transformative aspect of salvation has to has to show in our lives is that we are a new creation in Christ. And you know, if you've listened to our testimony episodes, you will hear this over and over and over again, the the difference that Jesus has made in people's lives, and it's, it's universal, right? Because when he comes in and saves us, there, there just has to be this change of whatever we formally word dead in our sins now alive, a new creature. And you see this in our lives. And I think this is what we need to kind of check in again, is that we need to make sure somewhat on on a regular basis, are we leaving behind these things of the old life? And are we are we embracing our new life? Are we diving into it? Are we you know, showing those fruits that you were talking about?
Bennett Holloway 34:22
What I loved that doctor, you were sat in for a minute, it was understanding when in verse 17, he is a new creature. The newness, so the Greek, the Greek can either be new as in time, so it's a it's a young, a new or in quality, it is cleaned and purify that that reference is not in time, that reference is in purity. And so you are a new creature, the oldest gone So often we spend time carrying holding on to bringing with us into New Seasons, New Years, new chapters, stuff that needs to stay in the past.
Tuck Choate 35:14
Right? And you mentioned that that struggle of holding, trying to hold on to the old, right, but also being the new.
Bennett Holloway 35:21
Right, right, right. So this, this, this, the, the most unhappy person that he's ever met, are people that are in this, I want to be new, I am new, but I want to be old. And this like this, this, this internal conflict that takes up because if we have the Holy Spirit as believers in Jesus, if we are in Christ, we have the Holy Spirit, right. And so the Holy Spirit, one of his primary roles is this conviction, and the sanctification of ourselves as we work through, he's a lamp unto our feet, and He convicts us of sin that is contradictory to the very nature of God. And and if we are living in sin, if we're participating in those old things, we will be constantly under conviction. So that's one possible outcome, miserable, internal division, turmoil, conflict. The yoke is not easy, when the burden is not liked, right? Fear, identity issues, all the stuff comes out of that. The other camp is if you know about God, if you have the head knowledge, and you're trying to do the best you can at living a fruitful life, but you're dead. And you don't have the Holy Spirit. That's the other side of the camp that's also miserable. So spiritually dead, but trying to live a Christian life, which is only possible through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, right? You can't live like Christ if we don't have the Holy Spirit. And so these two types of this to this dynamic, is tough. And if we're one of these two things, we won't be happy. And so the accepting in our minds, and understanding the Word of God for truth, right, if we just really take it, and believe it, and accept it. And even though we feel different, even though we struggle still, if we accept this reality, that in this, that we are a new creation, that old things have passed away, the whole new things have come. It gives us more of an opportunity to enjoy some of the things that God has done through the personal Christ for us, rather than focusing on all the junk that we keep messing up and bring in with ourselves. We're focused on me, me, me, me, me, and then fits on him. And we accept his love and forgiveness and the price that he paid and the perfection that he lived for me, then that change begins to take place and powered by the Holy Spirit. And it gives us space, to sit in these virtues, to worship God, to pray continually to live by the Bible, to share joyfully, to meet together to serve others, and to make Jesus known. These become the disciplines that allow us to experience life at a deeper level. Because we're a new creation, and the old self is gone. It was an illustration was given to me that I thought was beautiful. I'm trying to remember what it was. I don't remember the pastor that did it. I mean, I hear it all the time, though. It's like the thermostat and thermometer things like oh my and be a thermostat. Not a thermometer. You heard that one one
Tuck Choate 38:29
of them, tells what it is.
Bennett Holloway 38:33
So this one is the there's a reason why the windshield is much larger than the rearview mirror. Right. Focus on what God has done and what he's doing and what he is in front, like fix your eyes on him sober mind, not divided, just solely fixed, Hebrews, fix your mind on Him. Right? Don't look to the right or the left and get your eyes out of that rear view mirror because the old things are gone. Right? For a moment, take this as an opportunity to stop, to repent, to agree to see sin as he sees it, to surrender, to submit to His Lordship and enjoy abiding in him. And what I loved about this last Sunday is we did it. We celebrate baptism. We sat in this message of meat that brings us to we had communion as a body. And it really allowed us to get things right. And to step into this new year, align, repented, surrendered. And I thought it was a beautiful conclusion of our year. Of this difficult year of this amazing year. And of this topic of so ovation as we participated in communion, just remembering the body and the blood.
Tuck Choate 40:05
Absolutely. So I'm going to turn this towards our listeners, you know, as we are starting to close up. This episode, I want to talk to you all and encourage you like Bennett was doing to reflect on your own lives, right? We are at the close of 2023, we're going to leave that behind. We're going to take the good things and move them forwards with us but, but really look and figure out what decisions or commitments are necessary for you. You know, we've, we've mentioned before, just recently, that the salvation is an intensely personal thing, you cannot be saved by who your spouse is, by who your parents are, by what church you go to what small group you attend, it only is with you. And Christ, just those two, you got to figure it out between between the two of you, if you are saved, and then what kind of a change that needs to bring about in your life.
Bennett Holloway 41:05
Right now, I always think it's really healthy to even have some people around you that you can ask honest questions to, and you see some fruit in my life. And I don't think it's ever wrong to sit there and say, Lord, to have a moment in your life to say, Lord, am I saved? Because if you cannot say with confidence that you are not I think it's a great question to be asking yourself, it's probably the most beneficial question you can be asking yourself today. But whenever you can come to a clear understanding of your salvation, not knowing everything that we talked through at the very beginning of Calvin verses are many us there but but coming to a conclusion that you are saved. The Word of God clearly articulates and frames out what it means and you believe that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior, and then you can with confidence, acknowledge that. And then the next question is, let us surrender, Let us repent. Let us practice these things that we see Jesus practicing, that we've written out as kind of like our virtues, the seven virtues of a kingdom seeker. And let us continue to fall in love, over and over with our champion, with our Christ with our Savior, with our King, Jesus. And let this year be one that we experienced him, transforming our lives to look more like him, because we are, we are receivers. Right? We are receivers of this reconciliation. And then therefore, now we're ambassadors to share it. And I love and I'll end with this, that Jesus in the in the Sermon on the Mount, he talks through this, and one of the when I did a deep study into it, I just really enjoyed what I came across in verse nine of chapter five, it says, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God, these peacemakers, it's really this ministry of reconciliation. They don't just like make peace, but they're also evangelists that draw people into the only real source of peace, which is God, right, and peace that comes from being in right standing with him, and understanding adoption by him, and identity through him all things through the lens of our loving, incredible pursuit for creator. That's where peace comes. And that process, honestly, is reconciliation. And so the people in our family, the people at our office, the people that we see, are we ushering them steps closer to receiving the benefits of being reconciled unto God. Does that serve that we're ambassadors and that we're benefactors? And we believe, and we can't help but share it? And so that's my challenge and encouragement to those that can confidently say, Yeah, I'm a believer. And so let's do something about it.
Tuck Choate 43:59
Absolutely. So I think it was it was a very convicting sermon from Dr. York. Hopefully, this was a little convicting as well. If there's anything that we can do, if you would like to connect with our church or learn more about what we do here at Temple, you can visit us at Temple dot church. If you have any questions or if you would like to share your own testimonies, you can reach out to us at our email, Temple talk at Temple dot church. Happy 2024 And may this be the year that God makes some big moves in our lives. Until next time, May the grace and peace of Christ with you all thank you for joining us for another episode of Temple talk. We hope that Digging into God's Word together has enriched your perspective and broad encouragement. If you have any questions or topics you'd like to hear discussed on the podcast, feel free to email them at Temple talk at Temple dot church. You can also visit our website at Temple dot church for more resources. We pray God will continue to Bless you and your loved ones as you seek Him in Scripture we'll see you next time on Temple Talk.