Last time I spoke – almost exactly 1 year ago, the title of my sermon was “What is the Gospel”.
This time I want to look into that all important topic a little further.
Simple Gospel
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- God is Perfect and Holy
- We have by sinned by nature and action
- We are therefore separated from God
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- God made a way for us to have relationship with Him through Jesus
- We need to believe in / receive Jesus
- Turning from ourselves/sin, to Jesus
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- It is NOT because of our works
- All of this is to the Glory of God
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So that’s the gospel.
Some verses we like to talk about:
===== Slide: John 3:16
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
===== Slide: 1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
===== Slide: 1 Peter 1:3-4
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
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That last one emphasizes the hope that we have in Christ Jesus.
We’re done, right?
What comes next?
I heard someone once say “God loves you just the way you are, but He loves you too much to leave you that way.”
I’d like the kids from Teresa’s grades 1-5 class to come up and they are going to sing a song for us.
===== Slide
Saddle up your horses we've got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder of God's amazing grace
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Let's follow our leader into the glorious unknown
This is a life like no other – Whoa! - this is The Great Adventure
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Thanks kids – that was great!
Is this how we think of the Christian Life? As a great adventure?
Let’s follow our leader into the glorious unknown? More accurate might be to sing: …
Saddle up your horses, to ride around the barn.
Through the wild blue yonder, as long as we don’t
leave the farm.
Let's follow our leader, as long as we’re comfortable.
This is a life like no other – Whoa! – whoa, whoa, don’t get carried away now.
Is that how the Christian life should be? Playing it safe? Making sure we’re comfortable? Or is God calling us to something deeper?
I’ve selected a few verses to help us understand this “Great Adventure” that God has for us. They all entail some risk we take, and some promised reward.
===== Slide: Matthew 10:39
Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
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Risk = losing your life; Reward = Finding your life. That sounds like an even trade. But I think the life you get will be a better
one than the one you trade in.
===== Slide: Matthew 19:29
And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.
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What’s the risk? Forsaking houses/land/family. What’s the reward? 100 fold and eternal life. That sounds like a good trade.
===== Slide: Romans 8:18
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
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Risk = Sufferings; Reward = incomparable glory. Incomparable? By definition that’s a good trade.
If this were business, I’d call this a risk/reward analysis.
The way a risk/reward analysis works is
that you look at the investment you have to make to do
something – that’s what you are risking losing.
Then you look at the probability that it will succeed. Then you calculate the reward that will
result if do that something. And you
figure out if the venture is worth doing.
Like, if we build a widget, it will cost us so much to tool up the
factor to build these, then it will cost us so much to make them. We think we could sell them for so-and-so
much, so how many would we have to sell to make back
the money and time we invest in order to pay for the
startup costs. How many could we
reasonably expect to sell? How much
profit would we make if we sold only ¼ what we expect – would we make less money, or lose money.
But that business analogy breaks down here. Because the probability of success here is
100% - it’s based on God’s ability to bring about what He promised – and we
know that He is faithful and can and will bring it about.
How do we get from comfort and safety to this great adventure the kids sang about?
Galatians is a great book. We studied it last year in our Home Group. Paul is chiding the Galatian Christians for coming to God by faith, but then starting to fall into the legalistic rules and regulations that they think they must live by.
For about 3/4 of the book, Paul goes on and on with examples
and arguments against the works of the Law.
Compared to being justified by faith in Christ and living by that faith.
I think key verses of the book are Galatians 3:2-3
===== Slide: Galatians 3:2-3
Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
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They understood the Gospel – they responded to the Spirit’s
call on their lives and came to God by faith apart from works. Then they thought that they had to work for
some reason. They had turned their faith
in Christ into a religion of making and keeping covenants. That’s not what the Christian Life is about.
Then in the middle of Chapter 5 he starts giving commands on things they should be doing. At the end of Chapter 5 and into Chapter 6 to give more direct instruction: “through love serve one another “, “Bear one another’s burdens”, “Share all good things with your teacher”, “do good to everyone”. Most of these instruction are telling them what to do to live life in their Christian community.
But more importantly than what they should be doing, Paul also gives them instruction on how to do that:
===== Slide: Galatians 5:16
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
===== Slide: Galatians 5:18
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
===== Slide: Galatians 6:8
For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
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But how do we get from living our own comfortable, boring, maybe selfish lives to walking by the Spirit, being led by the Spirit, sowing to the Spirit?
I asked a few people I respect what helped them grow into
the depth of the Gospel.
Some had a Crisis of some sort –
Some hit a low point (some lower than others) where God
brought them to a point where they just decided to yield to Him.
Some it wasn’t as much a crisis per se, but a decision that
they didn’t want to just go on like they had been;
they didn’t want to settle, They knew that there should
be more to the Christian life than what they were experiencing, and they
decided to get serious about their Chistian faith.
One was asked when they were in High School: “How do you
know it’s true?” – and they didn’t have a good answer - they set out to figure
it out.
For me it was living with other believers when I was in
college – I saw the Christian life lived out on a daily basis,
and I knew it was something that I wanted to pursue.
The common thread was that they made a
decision to get serious about their Christian Life.
I want to do something a little different again. I’m going to have Teresa come up and sing a song for us.
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[Mountain]
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But how do we get there?
I’ve picked out 4 ideas that I think are important. This isn’t an all inclusive list, nor is it complete. I have a number of verses for each idea. I’ll go through them quickly.
===== Slide: Be Obedient =====
Obedience isn’t a popular topic among Christians, partially because we don’t want to conflate obedience with faith. But obedience should flow from our faith in Christ.
===== Slide: John 14:15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
===== Slide: Romans 6:17 But thanks be to God, that you … have become obedient from the heart …,
===== Slide: 1 Peter 1:22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth …
But obedience isn’t always easy – in fact, it’s often hard?
How do we get to the spot where obedience is second nature? We need to learn to abide in Christ.
===== Slide: Abide in Christ =====
The word ‘abide’ means to live somewhere, to dwell, to remain, but it’s more than that – it’s to have a deep connection with. When I was single, I lived with my roommates, but now that I am married, I abide with Teresa.
I looked it up, and the first definition in the Oxford dictionary is: “to accept or act in accordance with”. Like “I will abide by that decision”. That’s a much more active verb than to dwell in.
===== Slide: John 15:4
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
===== Slide: John 8:31
So Jesus said …, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
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How do we ‘abide’? I think a first important step is to think right.
===== Slide: Change your Thinking
===== Slide: 1 Peter 4:1
…, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, …
===== Slide: Rom 12:2
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind ...
===== Slide: Philippians 4:8
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
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The Bible is full of admonitions to think correctly. How we think will impact our actions, whether it’s more passive, like abiding/dwelling with Christ, or more active obedience. But what exactly are we to think?
===== Slide: Learn
===== Slide: Philippians 4:9
What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things ...
===== Slide: 2 Timothy 2:2
and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
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The Bible not only exhorts us to learn, it is full of the things that we need to learn.
These are only a few things – the list could be longer.
===== Slide: Putting All That Together
Learn à Think à Abide à Obedience
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That’s a nice logical orderly way to live the Christian life. If it were only that easy.
===== Slide: Reality
Learn ó Think ó Abide ó Obedience
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We’re all different, and we progress at different rates in different areas.
Some would say that you shouldn’t obey out of obligation – you shouldn’t give out of obligation - you shouldn’t serve out of obligation – some have even said that you shouldn’t read the Bible out of obligation. I say hogwash to that idea. Sometimes you obey out of obligation, then God changes your thinking as you learn the benefits of obedience, and you realize what abiding in Christ really means, and then you end up obeying but not out of obligation, but out of a love for the Lord. Reading the Bible is a good example of this. Some people start reading the Bible and can’t get enough of it. Many others, maybe most people (like me), start reading because they know that they should and they hope for the benefits of getting to know God better.
===== Slide: Decide =====
Decide to get serious about your relationship with God.
===== Slide: Come to Church =====
Every week
You get the kids up 5 days a week for school
Demonstrate to them that God is a priority
Sleep in on Saturday
What’s more important – your recreation, or getting to know God and spending time with His people
===== Slide: Practice Obedience =====
Not to get right with God
But to stay in right relationship with God – The Bible talks about sin hindering our prayers, and James points out that our works are a result of our faith.
Deal with sin in your life. Keep short accounts with God. If it’s persistent, ask for help/accountability from a trusted friend in the church.
===== Slide: Learn =====
Join a small group – Home group or Bible Study
Read a good book.
Read The Good Book. Read an entire book at a time. Study it too. Maybe read it through.
Be careful what you ‘learn’ on the internet. There’s a lot of good out there, but there’s also a lot of bad. If discernment isn’t your strong point, ask for what to watch.
One of the key things I think we can learn is about who God
is and about God’s character.
Who God is – The only omnipotent,
sovereign, creator of everything.
Perfect in all His ways.
What God is like, His character – He is loving, merciful, gracious, forgiving, but He is also just and executes judgement and displays His wrath.
I personally believe that understanding who God is and what He is like is imperative to the Christian life. No different than any other relationship.
Ask a more mature Christian to mentor you. Or get together with another like minded believer and study and grow together.
===== Slide: Spend time with other believers =====
Sunday is just a start.
Come to the monthly fellowship meal. You’ll have a chance to do that today.
Small groups are good for this too – like the “Mom and Me”
group, or the first Saturday men’s breakfast.
Invite others in the church over. Have fun with other believers!
Do something with other church members. Go hiking, shooting, shopping; Go to a Show at Snow.
Say “Yes” when you can when someone else asks if you want to join them for a Costco run, or to go for an outing.
===== Slide: Serve =====
Yeah, Glenn, we knew you were going to go there – you just want people to serve. No, I want people to grow in their relationship with Christ, and serving is a way of getting there.
Service is a great way to spend time with other believers, and see God working in them and in you.
===== Slide: Risk =====
About 35 years ago, someone took a risk when God called them to move to Ephraim and start a church there. But they and others were blessed by it – we are all blessed by it.
About 20 years ago, someone took a risk when God called them to pastor a small church in Ephraim. But they and others were blessed by it – we are all blessed by it.
Some of you took a risk when God called you to move to Central Utah. Whether it was for a job, or family, or other reasons. But you and all of us are blessed by your obedience.
Some of you take a risk by coming to this church. And hopefully you are blessed by being here, and we are blessed by you being here.
You all took a risk when you came here this morning. You bet that worshiping God with His people would be better than sleeping in or taking a hike. And do you know what? You are blessed by it and the rest of us are too.
What is God calling you to do? Probably not start a church, or pastor one, or move. Not many of us are asked to do these things.
But what God is calling you to do is to grow. He is calling you to true community with other believers. He is calling you to seek Him – and you will find Him. He’s calling you to take the next step.
So what are you going to do? Take the next step. See God’s blessing. Then take another.
When you step out in faith, there will be hard times. There will be setbacks. There will be disappointments. But even with the hardships, it will be worth it.
Are you going to be the person that plays it safe and has a comfortable, but boring life? Or are you going to step out in faith?
And what will be the result of growing in your relationship with God? You will blessed by it. Others will be blessed by it. But what is the best/ultimate result – God will be glorified.
===== Slide: Live “The Great Adventure” =====
And you will get to live “The Great Adventure”.