From the Blog
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A Simple Response
Every invitation deserves an RSVP, a response. Christmas invites us to respond to this word: the Son of God, the Savior, Christ Jesus has come. And He is coming again. This is what we mean when we speak of this Christmas season, this season of Advent. The word “Advent” is derived from the Latin word adventus, meaning “coming.” Advent speaks of the incarnation and the return of Christ Jesus. He has appeared and will appear again.
How will you respond? People respond in different ways. Some come to faith immediately. Some reject believing outright. Some go through a long season of searching and stumbling before finally believing, while still others remain skeptical or even apathetic their whole lives. Don’t you wish you knew how to respond?
Let’s look at the story of Mary’s simple response of faith to God’s Word to consider our response. -
A Simple Invitation
The Christmas season has become one of the busiest and most expensive times of the year. Retailers spend millions every year inviting us to spend our time and money at their special Christmas sales events. The sales “invitations” from retailers to spend our money with them fill our newspapers and mailboxes every Christmas, but now they increasingly fill our email boxes and social media.
How many of you long for something simpler? What if there were a simpler invitation that you could RSVP this year? What if we could say yes to a simple invitation to spend less and love more. To feel less exhausted and overwhelmed and more filled with a life better than we’ve ever dreamed of? Well, that’s what we’re talking about today… God’s simple invitation to believe in His Son. -
Marked by God’s Genuine Love
How do you want to be known? Or another way to consider this is to ask, how do you want to be remembered? What kind of a legacy will you leave when you die? Will they talk about the business you built? Or the job you did so well? Maybe the possessions you passed on to your family? How will you be known and remembered?
What if you could be known for the greatest thing of all? What if you could be known for your genuine and sincere love? While 1 Corinthians 13 might be considered the most beautiful description of love found anywhere, Romans 12:9-21 is the most practical and succinct. Paul taught how we can be marked by God’s genuine love! In the 12th chapter of the apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans, having called believers to be transformed by the renewing of their minds, he described how God’s genuine love would transform all their human relationships. We can let God’s genuine love be the mark of all our relationships. -
Know Thyself Rightly
How are you getting through the day? Have you believed the lie that you belong to yourself, that you’re responsible for discovering the meaning of your own life? The beginning of wisdom and of self knowledge, is to first know God and then know ourselves. And to know God, we must give ourselves fully to him. As we learned in Romans 12:1-2, Paul called believers to give themselves fully to God and be transformed by the renewing of their minds, so that they might discern and know the will of God.
Now in Romans 12:3-8, Paul instructed believers to think with this transformed and renewed mind, so that they might rightly discern and know themselves. We can rightly know ourselves. -
The Transformed Life
Would you say that you have given your life fully to the Lord Jesus and experienced the transformed life that the gospel promises? Do the people around you, family and friends, take note that your life is different than it was before you placed your faith in Christ? If not, why not? The truth is that many Americans who call themselves Christians are more apt to share the beliefs and practices of the secular culture than they are the beliefs and practices found in the Scriptures. They aren’t leading transformed lives and therefore, those who are outside the faith see no attraction to the faith.
Yet Paul saw that believing and receiving Christ as Lord would mean giving ourselves completely to Him in order to truly experience the transformed life–– the life that reveals Christ in us for His glory. In chapter 12 of Paul’s letter to the Romans, he appealed to believers to give themselves completely to God, so that they might experience a truly transformed life. We can give ourselves completely to God and experience a truly transformed life. -
The Mystery of God’s Mercy
Not all mysteries are fun. Sometimes the unknown causes fear and anxiety. Or it can cause some to avoid thinking about it or even to reject it. That’s how some respond to the mystery of God’s mercy. Some are apathetic about it. Some say they don’t see God’s mercy at work in the world today. Some feel they don’t need it.
When Paul uses the word “mystery,” he doesn’t mean it like the novels, movies or games mean it. It’s not something we can put on our Sherlock Holmes hats and deduce on our own. He means a divine truth previously hidden that can only be known by God’s revelation. God revealed the mystery of His mercy to Paul and in chapter 11 of Paul’s letter to the Romans, he wanted believers to understand the mystery of God’s mercy towards all people, both Jew and Gentile alike. We can understand the mystery of God’s mercy. -
God’s Salvation Plan Revealed
Do you ever wonder what God is up to in the world today? Things seem to be getting worse in the world. Pandemics, natural disasters, terrorism, wars, economic turmoil… Where’s God? Have we stumbled and now God is just going to let us fall?
That’s the question Paul posed concerning Israel. Did God let them stumble because He wanted them to fall? The answer is No! Instead, God has a plan for our salvation and He wants to reveal it to us. It’s a plan of hope! In chapter 11 of Paul’s letter to the Romans, he reveals God’s plan of salvation for the world. We can understand God’s salvation plan for the world. -
God’s Preserving Grace
Most of us understand that we are saved by God’s grace, His unmerited favor, that we couldn’t save ourselves, so we needed Jesus to save us. But many of us aren’t certain that God’s grace will preserve us, keeping us right with Him. We wonder whether God might reject us someday because we don’t work hard enough to stay right with Him, that we might lose our salvation. So we are filled with doubt.
Is that you today? Either you’ve never trusted Christ Jesus for your salvation and therefore you haven’t experienced His saving grace. Or you’ve believed on Him, but now you’re plagued with doubt because you haven’t understood God’s preserving grace. You think He might save you, but then reject you because of your lack of faith or continued struggles with sin?
In chapter 11 of Paul’s letter to the Romans, he explained that God had not rejected Israel, but by His grace, had always preserved a remnant of Israel for Himself. We can trust that God not only saves us, but preserves us by His grace. -
How Are They to Hear?
God is just and righteous and He has revealed Himself to all of us through the glory of His creation and He has a plan for the good news about Jesus to be proclaimed to the whole world too.
In chapter 10 of Paul’s letter to the Romans, he described how God had given Israel every opportunity to hear the gospel and respond by faith, yet only a remnant of them had believed. We can be part of God’s plan to give everyone an opportunity to respond to the gospel. -
God’s Salvation through Faith in Christ Alone
How have you responded to God’s plan for our salvation, for making us right with Him? Many of us are like the Jews of Paul’s day. We believe that we can be good enough to please God. You can knock on most doors in this city and ask people to answer, “If you died today and stood before a holy God and He asked, ‘Why should I let you into My heaven?’ What would you say?” Most will answer, “I tried to be a good person.” They think they can climb into heaven by their own self-effort, their own “trying to be good.” Or they think it’s by be religious: “I go to church/synagogue/mosque.”
Yet, the Bible teaches that we can only receive God’s salvation through faith in Christ alone. However, even this triggers our flesh. We hate being told there is only one way to do a thing. In chapter 10 of Paul’s letter to the Romans, he explained why Israel had failed to receive God’s salvation because they had sought to establish their own by keeping the law, rather than placing their faith in Christ alone. We can see why God’s salvation can only be received through faith in Christ alone.