Trinity Community Church
Trinity Community Church
The Blessed Life - Session 1
The transformative power of Jesus’s ministry in Galilee reveals the heart of God’s redemptive plan. This session begins with a moving story of a young girl named Emma who was rescued from neglect through adoption, drawing profound parallels to our spiritual condition before Christ. Just as Emma was unresponsive and developmentally behind but flourished under loving care, we too were once spiritually dormant until God’s love awakened us.
Our study of Matthew 4:23-25 takes us through Jesus’s extensive travels across Galilee—an area comparable to modern-day Knoxville with roughly 300,000 inhabitants—where he taught in synagogues, proclaimed the good news, and performed miraculous healings. His ministry drew massive crowds from Syria, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan as news spread of his compassionate power to heal every disease and affliction.
Looking deeper, we explore God’s unwavering commitment to humanity through a series of expanding covenants—from Adam to Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David—each preparing the way for the ultimate New Covenant established through Jesus. Unlike previous agreements that were limited in scope, this final covenant is rooted in love, sealed by Jesus’s sacrificial death, and offers complete restoration of relationship with God.
The miracles Jesus performed weren’t merely displays of power but tangible expressions of divine love. When he healed the sick or freed those oppressed by demons, Jesus was revealing God’s desire for wholeness in every life. Consider the woman who touched his garment after years of suffering—one of the rare moments in Scripture where Jesus “stopped,” sensing healing power flow from him to someone in desperate need.
Whether you’re exploring faith for the first time or seeking to deepen your spiritual understanding, this session offers a compelling reminder: at the heart of Christianity lies not rules or religion, but a relationship built on the transformative, adopting love of God.
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And that's E4. Verses 23 through 25 says and he went throughout all Galilee and we know that the he here is who Jesus. Jesus went throughout all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis and from Jerusalem and Judeaa and from beyond the Jordan.
Tyler Lynde:Let's pray for our time together tonight, father. We ask you, in the mighty name of Jesus, that you would take the words off of these pages out of the book of Matthew and that you would cause them to come alive to us this very night. We thank you for the privilege of studying your word to us this very night. We thank you for the privilege of studying your word, father. There are people in foreign lands who crave, who hunger and thirst for even one scripture to be able to read, memorize and meditate on. And so, lord, we thank you that we've been given this great blessing of your scripture. We thank you for these words of Jesus, that we will be studying over the next several weeks together, and we ask, lord, that you would grow us deeper in you. We pray, lord, that truth would move beyond our mental ability and capabilities and it will move into the realm of our hearts, because we know, lord, that out of the abundance of the heart we speak and we live. So we ask that you would transform us and change us. And also, lord, we pray that you'd draw us closer together within community, as we experience these times together, in Jesus' name, amen.
Tyler Lynde:So Amy and I recently had a great privilege, and that was we got to go view a child being adopted. So we got to go to the courthouse Blount County Courthouse and we got to be there for the proceedings, and it was an amazing thing. I've been to the courthouse for several reasons, most of them not because I was called to be there, but for other people, and this time in particular, it was one of the best experiences of our lives, as we got to see a young girl, a three-year-old girl named Emily, get adopted into the Seipel family. And I already talked to them about this and told them that I was going to be sharing this story a little bit tonight, and so they're on board with it and glad for me to do so. This young lady was surrounded by drug abuse when she was born and she was basically left in her car seat most of the time, very poorly fed and cared for. And here are some of the words that Allie Seipel, the now mom of Anna, shared about this story.
Tyler Lynde:In April 2023, we received a call about a placement for a little girl named Emma Lee. Emma Lee, she was just 11 months old at the time. From the moment she came into our home, something felt different. Emma was quiet, distant and unresponsive to our interactions. She rarely smiled, she didn't make typical baby noises and showed little interest in playing. Imagine an 11-month-old. How that must have been so strange, allie and Noah having had two sons before this and experiencing what it was like in a normal way to experience these ages, and now they're discovering this so different aspect with Emma. Developmentally, she was far behind, unable to crawl, unable to roll over or lift her head during tummy time, or even show interest in reaching or grabbing for toys. It felt as though her spirit had been dimmed. We began loving her the best way we knew how.
Tyler Lynde:Emma started weekly physical therapy and we committed to daily exercises at home With the support of our boys. We welcomed her with kindness and joy. We worked together to help her grow and heal. In August of 2023, emma rolled from her back into a sitting position for the very first time. Doesn't seem like much, but, man, it was a huge deal for them and for her. In September, she crawled and after 10 long, challenging months of therapy, she took her first steps and officially graduated from physical therapy in June 2024. Today she's walking, thriving and full of life, and this is what they call her, as they said, our little miracle. When we were asked if we would adopt Emma, the answer was easy Our hearts had already made room to love her as our own. She is happy, secure and deeply loved in our home. We are incredibly blessed to now officially call her our daughter. Emily Jade Seiple, we love you more than words can say.
Tyler Lynde:And why did I share that story tonight? To make some of you cry. No, that wasn't my goal. My goal with sharing that story is it's not that dissimilar from our own stories. We were lost, we were in trouble, we were without God in this life, and Jesus entered into our lives and began to reveal himself to us and over time we began to realize and recognize our need for a Savior and we accepted him into our lives to change us forever. And the Bible tells us that at that very moment, and even before that, god adopted us into his family and, how many of you know, he's in the process of working with us and growing us and helping us to reach new milestones over and over again. And in a way, the Sermon on the Mount is sort of like a training manual. It's kind of a way that God describes for all of us what it looks like to grow spiritually, and so we're going to be looking at that together over the next, like I said, nine or 10 weeks.
Tyler Lynde:As we look at this initial passage in Matthew, the same essence, like I've said, of this adoption is displayed in grand detail. Jesus arrives on the scene and what is he about? If you had to describe Jesus in one word, what would be the word word, one word, what would be the word? It's almost impossible, but what would be the one word? Love. Jesus is love, love. The fact that in 1 John it says that God is love, it's a descriptor, it's something that helps to identify who he is, at the very core, at his very root, his character and nature, is love, right? And so, as we look through these verses tonight, I want us to contemplate what that love looks like.
Tyler Lynde:Love is first understood through a relationship between a father and a son. Let's not make it all about us in the beginning, right? How many of you know, if you look back throughout all of time and if you could peek into eternity past, you can imagine the relationship that Father, son and Holy Spirit shared with each other and that continues to today and will always be right. They are one, and so, father and Son, you can imagine again that deep love that they had for each other. And it's almost Father's Day, right? Woo-hoo. I wonder how much money Hallmark makes on Mother's Day compared to Father's Day. I'm just throwing that out there. But anyway, you can imagine the difference, the way that Jesus feels about his Father.
Tyler Lynde:What do you get for God? If you're going to give a gift to your Heavenly Father, jesus is going to give a gift to your heavenly father. Jesus is going to give a gift to our heavenly father. What is he going to give him? Yeah, he said we can give him more kids. We can give him more children, children that he could adopt to be a part of his family, right? And so what does Heavenly Father? Not wanting to be outdone in the love quota, right, he's wanting to give something as well. And so what does the Father think concerning Jesus? What can he give him? A bride, a beautiful, spotless bride. And so we see creation coming out of what A relationship of love between a father and a son. Creation was an outworking of their love for each other.
Tyler Lynde:At each point of creation, the God had said what? At each day, at the end of each day, what does it say? They said it was good. But on the sixth day, after God created humanity, after he created Adam, what did he say? It's very good? And why did he say it was very good? This is a Bible study. We want you to think right. We're going to have some interaction and we're going to be talking to each other. I want you to think right. We're going to have some interaction, we're going to be talking to each other. Why did he say it was very good? What was the difference?
Tyler Lynde:All of those other things were important, but what was God actually creating in order to come to the last point where he would create humanity. What was he creating? A family, yeah, he was creating a family. He was creating a space. He was creating a space, a beautiful creation, a created space for adam and eve to live in it. Right, the garden of eden, you know about that. Right, somebody's gonna need their, their child, eat.
Tyler Lynde:I heard that the other day. I can't tell who it is because I might get in trouble. I've learned the hard way that let people tell their own stories and their own stories and their own truths, right, but when they're born and you hear that name, remember this night, you see, love was multiplying. Not only was love shared between Father and Son and Spirit, but now love is given to humanity, love is shown to his creation.
Tyler Lynde:Imagine what it must have been like for Adam and Eve to walk and talk with God in the garden. Imagine a place of perfection with no weeds and no mosquitoes and no. What else do you not like? Nats, nats, pigs, pigs, wasps, nats, nats, pics, yeah, pics, wasps, yeah. I was following the grass the other day and I moved the kids trampoline and something came out of the, the post and that thing and, let you know, got a hold of my thigh finger and I was so proud because I didn't say anything. That's cooked. I'm going to share a poll that happened. Sorry, they're kind of smacking at it. Yeah, they don't like to die when they get them. They got to hold you. But anyway, think about the perfection that this created space must have been. And yet, looking around at all of this creation, adam and Eve had to be enthralled by getting to talk and walk with God like actually get to do that. That's amazing, but unfortunately we know that that's not the end of the story, is it?
Tyler Lynde:Sin brought a separation between God and mankind. Sin brought a separation between God and mankind, as any good parent does. There were boundaries that were set in the garden and really, just, there was really one rule. One rule you could eat from every tree in the garden except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because if you eat it, you will, you will die, you will surely die.
Tyler Lynde:Satan tempted them and challenged their thinking as to whether God really loved them or if he was holding out on them, and Adam and Eve gave into the temptation. And so God, in order to remain holy, had to do what he had to deal with the sin that they had committed. Adam and Eve had rebelled against God, they had disobeyed him and they had broken relationship with him, and so he, god, in order to remain holy, had to deal with the sin that was committed. There were many curses that were handed down because of the sin that was committed, but the biggest one of all was that they would be removed from the presence of God, kicked out of the garden, and in the place of the entrance of the garden were placed angels with flaming swords to maintain their distance. Because if they had remained in the garden were placed angels with flaming swords to maintain their distance, because if they had remained in the garden, there was another tree that they could have eaten from, which was what? The tree of life. Not only did they suffer this fate, but how many of you know that all of humanity, except for Jesus that would be born after them, would be born dead in sin and trespasses? And that's all of us. We were born not sick, not sort of not okay. We were born dead in our sin and trespasses.
Tyler Lynde:Romans 3.23 and Romans 6.23, you can write those down for reference. So God's love is displayed, though, through a promise in the middle of the punishment, in the middle of him giving out these decrees and causing all of the different parties that were involved in this sin to be punished because of the sin that they were committed. There's a verse thrown in there, genesis 3, verse 15. And I'm reading this one, actually from the NIV and I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers. He's cursing Satan at this point. I'll put enmity between you and the woman and between your offspring and hers. He will crush your head and you will strike his heel. Who's the one who's going to crush the head of Satan? Jesus, and he did that, didn't he? Satan is already. Take this to the bank. Satan is already a defeated foe. And Satan did attempt to strike Jesus' heel, and we know that Jesus is victorious.
Tyler Lynde:You see, god had no intention of leaving his children in this place of desperation. God had no intention of not addressing the problem of sin and creating a pathway for redemption. He will go to great lengths to make a way for them to have a chance to be restored to right relationship with himself. So how did God do this? Let's just take a quick journey through the Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi. Are you ready? I'm only kidding, we're going to do this in 30 minutes. We're halfway there. God kept an open pathway for his love through the covenants.
Tyler Lynde:Let's just quickly look through the covenants in the Old Testament. Right? We already talked about Adam and how that covenant was broken. The next one is well, let me describe what a covenant is. A covenant has particular characteristics. So, first, every covenant has a mediator, a person with whom God makes the covenant right, who represents a particular group of people, which could be their family, their tribe, etc. Second, every covenant promises certain blessings for those who keep the covenant. So if you do this, then I will do this right. Third, there are conditions laid out for keeping the covenant and curses that come with breaking these right. Fourth, each covenant has a sign which is used to celebrate and remember the covenant. And finally, god's family takes on a new and bigger form with each successive covenant. God doesn't bring a new covenant on unless he's looking to expand and multiply. God is not a God who shrinks back. God is a God who expands and grows. So let's look at God's covenant with Noah and you can write down Genesis 6 through 9.
Tyler Lynde:After rescuing his family on the ark, god makes a covenant with Noah promising not to destroy the world by flood. Again, they will be blessed, but they are not to drink the blood of animals nor to shed any other human blood. You see the interaction there. I'm going to do this for you and I'm requiring this from you. God leaves as a sign, a rainbow you can say it out loud, it's okay A rainbow. Friends, it's time to take it back. This is God's sign. This is God's sign. He put a rainbow in the sky and grows God's chosen people from a couple under Adam and Eve to one holy family, right.
Tyler Lynde:So the next one is God's covenant with Abraham, or would have been Abram at the time. God reaches out to Abram. He's the chieftain of a tribe, so we're moving from a family now to a tribe, and he's promising him a great deal, including land and descendants. Promising him a great deal, including land and descendants. God further explains that this is a promise that all nations will be blessed through him and that his descendants will be too great to number. Remember what he uses as a comparison for the number of his descendants Sand and stars. Ever tried to count them? That's the point. Yeah, the sign of this covenant was circumcision, and the chosen family grows into one holy tribe.
Tyler Lynde:The next covenant was with Moses. You can read all about Moses in the book of Exodus After a side trip to Egypt by which God, through Joseph, saves his chosen tribe, israel has grown to be numerous and Pharaoh has enslaved them, and God uses Moses as a what, as a judge and liberator, to free Israel from slavery, swearing to be their God and asking them to worship him alone. The sign of the covenant is the law which is called the Ten Commandments, and the holy tribe has grown now into what A holy nation. A holy nation. And then we have God's covenant with David 2 Samuel, chapter 7. David is chosen by God to lead Israel as her king, and God swears to David that one of his descendants will forever remain on the throne of Israel. The sign of this covenant is the throne and temple which Solomon, david's son, will build. Didn't we just read about that in our Bible reading for this year? We just have concluded, and Solomon dedicated the temple to the Lord, and the nation has now become a holy kingdom. Isn't that interesting?
Tyler Lynde:You can look back at all of these and find direct ties to Jesus as well, if you think about the Exodus and Moses being a deliverer. How many of you know, jesus is our deliverer. Think of David becoming this king and having a lineage of kings. Who is Jesus? He's the king of kings and Lord of lords, amen. So then, the last one, and that's the one that the verses that we read tonight really kind of give us a view into, and that is the new covenant of Jesus.
Tyler Lynde:The new covenant of Jesus. In this covenant, jesus is both God and mediator. He's the high priest, he's the perfect man, he's the chieftain, just like Abram. He's the judge and the prophet, he's the king. He fulfills every promise made in the other covenants and promises to us what? Life eternal with God, forever and ever. And how does he cut this covenant? What is required of him? Death. He will sign this covenant in red, by willingly laying down his life as the once and for all sacrifice for the sins of the world. God saves us by grace alone.
Tyler Lynde:And our proper response looks like what are the two things we must do? If we want to? What is it? Repent, and what does repent mean? To turn, to change direction, to change our mind about who God is and who we are Right. So we're going to repent.
Tyler Lynde:And what's the second thing? We must believe. We must believe what, that he is, who he says he is. Amen, he is who he says he is and he is who he says he is. And then also there's a follow-up to these things. So to repent and believe and be baptized. Be baptized, the Holy Kingdom now becomes the universal church, not the universalist church, don't connect with you, but it becomes the universal church, the big C church. Don't get me back if you, but it becomes the universal church, the big C church, right?
Tyler Lynde:So you see all of these different covenants described throughout the Old Testament and then moving into the new, the new covenant is characterized by what we already talked about in the beginning One word love. The new covenant is characterized by love, is primarily characterized by love, and it is its central principle and guiding force. It emphasizes God's unconditional love and grace and calls for believers to love God and one another. As a reflection of that love, aren't you glad that there's been a new covenant that's been established that each and every one of us can benefit from, and we can use that benefit to benefit and bless others? That is the gospel, that is the good news. This covenant, established through Jesus, promises forgiveness, reconciliation and a restored relationship with God. And all of these concepts are rooted and grounded in love. All of these concepts are rooted and grounded in love.
Tyler Lynde:So Jesus, in this passage, begins to travel extensively throughout Galilee. There were about 300,000 people in this area. So how big is Knoxville? About 300,000. So if you think of Knoxville and you think about the expanse of the ministry of Jesus at this time, it's grown in a year and a half to the point to where I'm not saying that the crowds were that large, but the group of people that the crowds were coming from was around 300,000 people. And he's preaching the gospel of the kingdom, the good news of the kingdom. And what is the good news? It's that great, grand, grand, merry news that God has come, in the person of the Messiah, to deliver Israel and to inaugurate the kingdom of God.
Tyler Lynde:It was the news which every Jew longed to hear, although what did they think that it actually meant for them? What did they want to be delivered from? They wanted to be delivered from Rome. God had something else in mind. What did he want to deliver? Delivered from? They wanted to be delivered from Rome. God had something else in mind. What did he want to deliver them from the bondage of sin and death and the grave Amen. Much higher goals, much loftier goals. The news which every Jew, like I said, long to hear. Jesus also backed up what he was saying by what Powerful signs and wonders.
Tyler Lynde:I want us to just recall there isn't anything that's too difficult for Jesus. There wasn't, and there isn't anything that is too difficult for Jesus. There wasn't a case that was brought to him that he sat down and scratched his head and said not really sure about this one, he was prepared. He was ready. He was the image of God. He represented his father in such beautiful ways.
Tyler Lynde:Think about the kindness and compassion of Jesus. How many of these people had been overlooked and pushed aside. Remember the woman that had the issue of? I don't remember what was said of her that she had been to I think it was nine doctors or it was a lot of doctors, and nobody could help her and she had spent everything that she had and she just felt like, if I could just reach out and touch the hand of His garment, the very bottom. I don't want to disturb Him, but I want to stop him from his movement. I don't want to interrupt anything. I just believe that there's something about this Jesus and the kindness of this Jesus that can change my life. And so what did she do? She reached out and touched his hand and Jesus stopped.
Tyler Lynde:You know how few times it says that Jesus stopped? Very rare Jesus stopped. And what did he say? Drew touched me, of course, his disciples being brilliant the men that they were. They said Jesus, you okay, there's lots of people around you, it could have been anybody. I just touched you and he said no, I felt Birch Eagle out, something came through me and out of me to touch somebody at their point of need. This is the new covenant. This is what we get to enjoy as members and participants of the new covenant. I'm not saying that we won't experience sorrow in this life. Part of the new covenant reality is the fact that he's with us and he dwells in us by his spirit. So it's not always about the desired outcome. It's about the fact that we have been restored to right relationship with God because of love. So his fame began to spread and people came from all over to get a touch from this generous man. He mercifully healed them and set them free.
Tyler Lynde:I'm going to just read the words to this old song that probably all of us know. I would try to sing it, but without some accompaniment. We all might need to take a moment to pray. It says how deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure that he should give His only Son to make a wretch His treasure. How great the pain of searing loss. The Father turns His face away. How great the pain of searing loss. The father turns his face away as wounds which, near the chosen one, bring many sons to glory.
Tyler Lynde:Behold the man upon a cross, my sin upon his shoulders. Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice call out among the scoffers it was my sin that held him there until it was accomplished. His dying breath has brought me life. I know that it is finished. I will not boast in anything, no gifts, no power, no wisdom, but I will boast in Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection. Why should I gain from his reward? I cannot give an answer, but this I know with all my heart his wounds have paid my ransom. Come on the great merry good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Haven't we all tasted of this? Haven't we all experienced it? Don't our hearts burn within us when we consider this, when we hear these words, my friends, let's shake ourselves loose from anything that would try to keep us away from these truths. What in the world are we doing? Spending hours a day worrying about things when we should be focusing in on the love of God displayed in each of our lives because of Jesus Christ?
