Tag: Image of God

The Gospel

John the Baptist Message of Positive Human Interaction

Repent and Turn to Living in the Image of God

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The Sermon of St John the Baptist. wikipedia.org
The Sermon of St John the Baptist. wikipedia.org

The angel that foretold the birth of John the Baptist said of him [Luke 1:16–17]: “He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” We examine the message of John the Baptist in this bible study, to understand his approach to his mission and how his teaching applies to present-day human interaction. The state of human interaction as he saw it was dominated by predator-versus-prey type relationships, whereby people sought to cheat others if they could. He preached a message of repentance [Matthew 3:2; Luke 3:3], that people had to repent from the life of preying on each other and turn to God’s ways in order to be acceptable into God’s kingdom. We examine other parts of the Scripture to understand that “God’s ways” refers to a state of human interaction characterized by mutual provider-receiver relationships, in which every person is a conveyor of the image of God and a channel for God’s compassion.

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The Apostles

Self Assessment Part 2 of 2

Seeking Closer Approach to God’s Purpose

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TWO-PART STUDY This is the second of a two-part study on seeking closer approach to God’s purpose through periodic self-assessment. In the first part, we discussed the self-assessments of Paul and Joshua, in which each looked back at his performance at the end of a specific and well-known assignment. Part 2 of the study focuses on improving personal performance through periodic self assessment.

© Embe2006 | Dreamstime.com
© Embe2006 | Dreamstime.com

GOD’S PURPOSE FOR HUMANKIND First, we discuss a generalized understanding of God’s purpose for humankind: he creates each person to represent him (i.e., conveyor of his image) as his provider assistant (i.e., channel for his compassion) among people and in interactions between people and other earth inhabitants.

PERSONAL PERFORMANCE GOALS Second, we discuss how a person could develop personal performance goals and modify the goals periodically as necessary based on the generalized understanding of God’s purpose for humankind and the person’s belief regarding God’s specific assignments for him/her.

PERIODIC SELF ASSESSMENT Third, we discuss periodic self assessment, whereby a person evaluates his/her performance periodically relative to the personal performance goals and modifies the goals as necessary, to seek closer approach to God’s purpose.

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Uncategorized

Prayer, Battle Cry, and Sermon: David and Goliath

David and Goliath

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When David was about to confront Goliath in the battle of the Valley of Elah, he said a prayer that also was a battle cry and a sermon.

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Uncategorized

Image of God

Image and Likeness of God in Human Interactions

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Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:22-23 describes the image of God (fruits of the spirit) as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. This list describes how people feel about you when you interact with them or they observe your interactions with other people. Your attitude conveys the image of God if you come across as attentive with an intent to understand other people’s feelings and needs; you are truthful and your statements are based on your best understanding; you don’t suddenly explode into anger; people don’t have to be perfect in interacting with you, because you will reasonably grant them another chance if they make a mistake.

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