Essentials of the Faith Collection

This particular series stood out to us and was one we wanted to share early on in our episode planning. These are the essentials that Pastor Harris felt are absolutely necessary that we all know about our faith. Below is a breakdown of all the Essentials of the Faith according to Pastor Nick Harris.

The below teachings are displayed in the order we published them but the beauty of this collection, and the reason we refer to it as a collection instead of a series is that it can be listened to in any order you like.

TRAILER: Essentials of the Faith Collection
This is a brief introduction to this collection by Jamie Russell and Amy Moffiet, Pastor Harris’s son and daughter.
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Introduction – The Disease of Sin
“The Essentials of the Faith” are the things that are absolutely necessary for us to understand about our faith. In this episode, Pastor Harris will discuss the disease of sin. 
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The Sacrifice
Witness Pastor Harris’s passion for the Old Testament as he shares hidden secrets he has uncovered having to do with the sacrificial system.  This message also covers the development of substitutionary death we find in the Bible.  Pastor Harris takes us on a journey from the first sacrifice to the final sacrifice and their necessity for the forgiveness of sins. 
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Why God Became Man
Pastor Harris continues discussing the Essentials of the Faith.  He will explain how God communicates with his people through his creation and ultimately by becoming one of us.  A foundation will be laid regarding why God had to become man. He will talk about the barrier between man and God and his plan to tear it down by the substitutionary death of Jesus.  Pastor Harris will explain the qualifications of the substitute to be able to take away our sins and how Jesus filled all these requirements for you and for me.
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Paid in Full
SummaryIn this episode, Pastor Harris will examine the debt of sin that we owe. He will share some valuable stories that reflect his personal realization that he was a sinner and destined for death. He will compare the external vs the internal responses to our debt of sin.  He teaches us that this state of sin cannot be solved by doing something in our own effort.  We cannot pay the debt of sin for ourselves. Thanks to Jesus, we have hope, a new motivation, and a new heart. The work has already been done, the debt is paid.
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The State of Death
In this episode Pastor Harris will illustrate the final stone of the wall that separates us from God-the state of death in which we can no longer commune with God. Pastor Harris will discuss three aspects of death: spiritual, physical and eternal. He will take us to the scene in the garden where God demonstrates the meaning of death.  Pastor will show us the rule of sin and death that God put into place for sin to be covered and ultimately forgiven. 

We are also introduced in this episode to a central teaching of Pastor Harris that he calls the circles. This is the representation of the human being as a triune being, like our creator.  The three circles represent our body, soul and spirit.

Just a little production note, all of the content we have for this podcast are recordings of Pastor Harris teaching and preaching from his many years of ministry.  Sometimes the recordings are incomplete.  This recording begins in the middle of a story of Pastor Harris talking about the model train set he had as a child. The story is so good so we decided to allow it to play as we have it.
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The Man God Became

In this episode Pastor Harris will present the Old Testament prophecies found in Isaiah and Micah that tell of the Messiah who would come as both God and man.  He will also show how the New Testament points to the identity of this God-Man.  That man is Jesus.

You will hear that Jesus became the only person to have two natures-one divine and one human.  Pastor Harris will explain that Jesus became a man for five reasons: to become our savior, to pay the penalty for our sin, to mediate on our behalf, to be our high priest and to be our redeemer.
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Redemption
In this episode Pastor Harris will remind us of the debt we owe and explain the qualifications of the redeemer who would pay the price to free us from our slavery to sin: He had to be a free man, one without sin, he had to be next of kin to the human race, a mediator, and He had to accept the task voluntarily.  

On the day of His crucifixion, Jesus became our redeemer.  Pastor Harris reminds us in this episode that Jesus experienced aloneness so we would never be alone. Love is what sent Him to the cross.

Pastor Harris will begin this teaching talking about the day that would forever alter the relationship between God and man.  This is the day that Jesus died on the cross. Pastor will start with a quick summary of what happened on that fateful day.
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Propitiation
There is a word found in scripture that is not common to our everyday language but Paul uses it in the book of Romans to describe the act of satisfying the payment for our sin by Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. Pastor Harris will paint what he believes to be the clearest picture of what propitiation means found in the tabernacle in the wilderness and then explain how Jesus died as our propitiation for sin.
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Reconciliation
In this episode, Pastor Harris will dive into the Greek word for reconciliation to give a clear understanding of what this word means. Then he will share one of the best examples of reconciliation found in scripture, the story of Hosea. The act of reconciliation, made available to us by Jesus’ action on the cross, tore down the wall that divides God and man and makes relationship with a living God possible for you and me.
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Justification
SummaryIn this episode Pastor Harris will help us understand the concept of justification and the important role it plays in the life of a believer.  Justification allows us to walk in grace, not works righteousness.  Our righteousness is found in Christ alone. Pastor will teach that the greatest benefit of justification is the freedom we have from condemnation.
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A Decision of Destiny
Pastor Harris will distinguish the difference between the mean of salvation and the effects of salvation.  He will explain to us the meaning of grace and the many things we receive from God that we cannot earn and do not deserve: His love, His forgiveness, His righteousness, His acceptance, His mercy, His redemption, His eternal life.  These are free gifts upon salvation given to us by God if we are willing to receive them.

Pastor Harris will explain the meaning of repentance and how it goes hand in hand with salvation. Each of us have a decision to make for ourselves-will I trust in Christ or will I trust in my works?  I pray you choose Him.
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Forgiveness
In past Essentials of the Faith episodes we talked about things like sanctification, justification, the second birth and all the elementary things that surround those topics. Pastor Harris has discussed a lot of big words like propitiation and redemption and Justification.  The last one of these we talked about Justification which is related to Propitiation, now we will talk about forgiveness which is related to redemption.  Those two things belong together so you have to consider them in their specific category.

You cannot take lightly the fact that ALL of your sins are forgiven in Christ.  Pastor Harris will spend some time with us ensuring we understand what “ALL” really means.
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Freedom
In this episode, Pastor Harris will explain to us the freedom we can experience because of the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross.  His sacrifice sets us free from the penalty of sin and provides us the daily deliverance of the power of sin.
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Regeneration – The New Birth
In this episode, Pastor Harris will explain how man is created in the image of God, we are created as a triune being with a body, soul and spirit.  When we encounter and accept the  substitutionary death of Jesus, we are given the gift of regeneration.  We are born again. 
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