Episode Transcript
[00:00:03] Amen.
[00:00:06] Jamie, thank you so much for sharing your story, even though you were nervous. You did a fantastic job.
[00:00:13] I'm sure God's going to use it and all day.
[00:00:19] And if you guys want to find out more about broken and beautiful ministry, they'll be hanging out a little bit after the service. So please go up and introduce yourself. Talk with them, find out about more what God is doing in that ministry and how you might be able to get involved.
[00:00:35] Today we're launching our series in Romans, where we've selected seven passages with the purpose of answering seven questions that we believe every true seeker of God would like to know more about.
[00:00:45] We place those seven questions on the screen and let's review them together.
[00:00:51] How can I know I'm right with God?
[00:00:53] Does God have a purpose for my suffering?
[00:00:56] Does God have a plan to fix this broken, messy world?
[00:01:00] How can I know I'm secure in God's love?
[00:01:03] Can I know what is in store for me after this life?
[00:01:06] Can God really use my life to make a difference?
[00:01:10] How can I find peace with those who hurt me?
[00:01:13] Meaningful questions that I believe have answers that could radically change your life each week won't be intended to build off each other, but will be self contained. So you can choose to come to all seven, or maybe there's one or two or more that are especially meaningful to you. Of course, if you're a regular attender, you have to come to all seven, and I'm sure that's going to happen.
[00:01:39] Each week we'll have someone sharing their story on how God led them to find the answer to that each question and how their life has been forever changed. So today's question that we want to try to answer is, how can I know right with God? And before we jump into our text and romance for this morning, I want to give you some important background information that is needed that I hope will help to make sense of it all.
[00:02:02] You see, many people today have crafted their spiritual beliefs like they were going through a buffet line at a restaurant.
[00:02:09] You go through the line from beginning to end and you take what looks appealing to you. You know, food that you like while you leave all the stuff you don't like or stuff you think doesn't taste good.
[00:02:20] In developing a belief system, a person may take a little bit from their parents, what they've told them, from beliefs and traditions handed down to them. Some from what they remember from their religious upbringing as a child, dismissing some beliefs they have grown to dislike as they have become adults. Maybe they've grabbed other ideas from some friends or what they've heard people say online, that sounds pretty good. And they add their own thoughts and it's kind of like it's a buffet. You know, you just, you're going through the line and you're picking and choosing those things that look good, that sound good, that have a good taste in your mouth while leaving the rest.
[00:02:56] In Emmanuel Fellowship Church, we believe the Bible was written by human authors who were inspired by the Holy Spirit hand the words of God.
[00:03:05] We believe the Bible consists of the words of God that he wanted to lead with us, to help us know him, his will, plan of salvation, and his overarching plan of redemption. So our approach to the Bible is not to pick out those passages that we want to believe in and discard others as myth, fable or false. We don't choose the passages that we like that only make us feel good and dismiss the rest. We allow the Bible to mold and shape our beliefs.
[00:03:32] We believe that from the first book, Genesis, to the last book, Revelation, there's one continuous theme running from beginning to end, that God is revealing to us his plan of redemption for humanity to understand why we need a savior, we need to go back to the beginning. The very first verse of the Bible in Genesis one one. It says, in the beginning, God.
[00:03:54] Genesis, which means the story of beginnings, reveals that God is eternal. He has no beginning and end in eternity passed before anything was created. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, lived in a triune relationship. Three persons and yet one God.
[00:04:09] The Bible reveals that God was self sufficient and self sustaining, in need of nothing and no one to complete him. The God had lived in perfect love, fellowship and unity, and yet he chose to create a universe with a planet called Earth for human beings to live there.
[00:04:25] He wanted to create a people who he could share his life and his love with.
[00:04:31] God first made the heavens and filled it with sun, moon, stars, planets. And then he formed the earth and filled it with the seas and plant life and animals. And after each thing that he made, he declared it was good, which means it was perfect in every way.
[00:04:47] And when God decided that the planet was ready and prepared, he chose to make man and woman and said, let us create them in our image and in our likeness.
[00:04:57] Human beings made with extreme value and worth, created in his image, created to be in relationship with him, to know and be known, to love and be loved, to have a life transforming connection with the God who has made you.
[00:05:12] Genesis reveals that God walked through the garden in the cool of the day. With them, there was nothing that was hindering their relationship with one another.
[00:05:21] Psalm 139 declares that you have been made fearfully and wonderfully, and God has given you such great value and worth in his eyes.
[00:05:32] The Bible also declares that you and I are the apple of his eye, the object of his affection, the longing of his heart.
[00:05:41] Adam and Eve were created and placed on a perfect earth, a sinless planet without evil, where all their needs were provided for. It sounds like a true paradise, doesn't it?
[00:05:51] This is the story of our beginnings. This is how God intended life with him to be.
[00:05:59] But we all know that that's not what we experience today.
[00:06:03] So what in the world happened?
[00:06:07] God gave the first human beings one prohibition. He says, do not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on that day you will surely die. And you ask, everything was so wonderful and so perfect. Why the prohibition?
[00:06:20] Well, my answer to that is because of love.
[00:06:24] Love, by definition, is not forced. It's not dictated, it's not manipulated or coerced by another. Love must be a choice.
[00:06:33] He chose us. He wanted to know if we would choose him in return.
[00:06:37] God wanted to know, will you trust me? Will you embrace my love for you? Will you believe I want and can provide the very best for your life?
[00:06:49] The prohibition served as a means by which Adam and Eve could choose to trust God or mistrust his intentions for them.
[00:06:55] To believe in or reject his authority and rule over their lives. To obey or disobey his commands, even though created to be in relationship with God, even though they had already experienced his love and care, even though everything they needed was provided for them, even though they were given a position of importance and invited to rule over the planet with God through the temptation of the devil, which was to deceive Adam and Eve, to believe God through one, through its prohibition, that he was actually holding out his best on them. They decided they wanted to be God and live life their way, to call the shots of their own life and reject his rule.
[00:07:35] To seek out happiness and fulfillment by their own means apart from God, to be in control of their own happiness, their own destiny.
[00:07:43] In this, they rejected God. They disobeyed, they sinned.
[00:07:48] This is what sin is.
[00:07:51] It's a person seeking to find life and happiness apart from God, living outside of his prescribed boundaries.
[00:07:59] God's commands were never intended to be a killjoy to rob us of all the fun and adventure. No, they were created in love because he knew how he made us and knew that if we tried to live outside those prescribed boundaries, we would suffer hurt and pain and loss.
[00:08:14] The consequences were and still are as God said they would be. They would surely die.
[00:08:21] Humans made to live forever now would experience physical death.
[00:08:26] And death also meant separation, that because of their sin, human beings who were meant to live in God's presence forever now, because of their sin, are separated from the holy God.
[00:08:37] The world was cursed.
[00:08:39] Disease, decay, and death entered it.
[00:08:42] Wickedness and evil now become part of the human experience.
[00:08:46] Their fallen sinful nature has been passed on through the generations to each and every one of us. And let me tell you, folks, there is no origin story that better explains why the world is the way it is than this.
[00:09:05] Every woman from broken and beautiful here today could tell you that sin is what landed them in prison.
[00:09:11] They chose to live outside of God's boundaries, and they suffered the consequences. But you know what? That doesn't make them any different than you and I. For we all sin, and we all have suffered consequences, haven't we? You see, because God was and always is right. And he declares that the wages of sin is always death.
[00:09:31] Sin kills stuff.
[00:09:34] It kills marriages, it kills families. It kills our health, our careers, our reputations, our friendships, and even our ministry for God. And sin robs us of our freedom and places us in bondage. And we have all experienced it in one way or another.
[00:09:52] And while many of us haven't been thrown in prison, sin still imprisons us in our mind and our emotions and in our heart.
[00:10:02] God could have treated this as an experiment gone terribly wrong, write it off as failure and move on.
[00:10:10] Yeah, he could have done that. But you know what? That's not his heart.
[00:10:16] Almost immediately, we find him making a promise to Adam and Eve, found in Genesis, chapter three, where he declares that the seed of the woman will crush the devil's head.
[00:10:25] God is immediately promising through a virgin birth that a messiah would come to destroy the work of the devil, his remedy for what ails us and our world. God reveals he has a plan of redemption and restoration for us all and for our world.
[00:10:38] He didn't abandon us in our rebellion and sin. He didn't turn his back. He didn't close his eyes.
[00:10:45] But immediately he says, I've got a plan to make things right.
[00:10:50] The women from broken and beautiful haven't just been released from prison. Through Jesus, they have been set free from the debilitating power of sin over their lives.
[00:10:59] They know that in Jesus they've been forgiven and set free of their guilt and shame and have been given a new lease on life. And you know what? That new lease on life came to them before they were ever released from prison.
[00:11:10] Through faith in Jesus. They were already set free before they took one step back into the world.
[00:11:17] That's how glorious and wonderful our savior is.
[00:11:22] We live in a world that is broken and stricken by sin. And the message over these seven weeks in Romans is that God has a remedy for it. He has a remedy for our lives, he has a remedy for our relationships, and he has a remedy for our world.
[00:11:36] I hope you stick with us these seven weeks to learn more about God's great love for you, the forgiveness and freedom he offers you in Jesus.
[00:11:44] So before we jump into the main text, Romans, why don't you pray with me?
[00:11:52] Dear heavenly Father, we just rejoice in the God of our salvation this morning.
[00:11:58] And we lift our eyes to you from where our help comes. And we say it comes from the Lord, the maker of the heavens and the earth.
[00:12:04] What a great and glorious and wonderful and beautiful and tremendous and amazing God that you are, that you would not choose to turn your back on us and turn away from us in our sin and rebellion, but instead you came on a rescue mission for us.
[00:12:20] And we thank you for your love. We thank you for your grace. We thank you, Lord, that you revealed yourself to us in such a way that we knew that you were the only answer to what ails us. Lord, I pray that through your spirit that you'd move through our hearts and minds this morning and convince us in a deeper way through your word for the tremendous love and grace that you have for each and every one of us. And we ask that in Jesus name. Amen.
[00:12:46] We're going to turn in your bibles to Romans chapter three.
[00:12:49] And if you need a Bible, you can find a bible in front of you underneath the seats. And if you don't have your own, please feel free to take it home.
[00:12:59] We're going to start out romans three nine and Paul writes, what then? Are we better off? Not at all. For we have already charged that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin. As it is written. Paul claims that everyone is under sin. Everyone is born into sin and there's no exceptions. It kind of gives a disclaimer for the belief that human beings are born inherently good. And that's what you hear a lot of people say today. Well, you know, we're all just inherently good. We're good people by nature. But the reality of it is that Adam and Eve's fallen nature have been passed on to us.
[00:13:38] Then he goes on and says, and just walk through this with me. He says, no one is righteous.
[00:13:44] No one can be declared right with God based on their own performance. No one understands apart from the enlightening of the Holy Spirit, no one understands God's nature and character, nor can they understand his plan of redemption. No one who seeks God. We naturally give God the stiff arm and live life as if he doesn't exist. All have turned away. They've turned away to live life as they want and live with no mind towards God.
[00:14:06] He says they've become worthless. He's saying that any attempts to impress God are absolutely no value in his eyes.
[00:14:14] And he goes on and says, no one does good. Their throats are open graves. They deceive with their tongues. Vipers venom is under their lips, mouths full of cursing and bitterness. Feet are swift to shed innocent blood. Ruin and wretchedness are in their paths. They do not know the path of peace. There is no fear of God in their eyes.
[00:14:36] Kind of seems like the apostle Paul uses what appears to be some very harsh and unflattering descriptions of the human condition, doesn't it?
[00:14:44] He's basically declaring that the entire world, all of humanity, stands guilty before God.
[00:14:51] Imagery here is of a court of law where Paul is a prosecutor who brings a 14 count indictment against all of humanity.
[00:14:59] He's quoting half a dozen psalms and other Old Testament scriptures here that his jewish listeners would understand to point out just how far away every jew and non jewish person alike falls short of the righteousness of God.
[00:15:13] And he intentionally refutes jewish belief that because of their lineage, that they are in better standing with God than all others.
[00:15:20] And it doesn't matter who you've born, what family, what nationality, what ethnicity you are, what religious background you have, none of that cuts it in God's eyes, nor does it give you a better standing than anyone else.
[00:15:37] As we reflect on the language he uses, it appears he is saying that no one has ever done good. And how is that possible?
[00:15:43] Are we to believe that no one has ever shown hospitality to the poor or those who are suffering, or has never visited the prisoner or the sick, or fed the hungry, or clothed the naked, delivered the innocent from the hands of a powerful oppressor, or acted on behalf of the hurting in time of need?
[00:16:00] Paul isn't suggesting that no person has ever done good, has ever shown acts of kindness, has never been merciful to the hurting, has never treated fellow human beings with loving kindness that would be devoid of reality.
[00:16:13] Everyone in this room and watching online could more than likely list the good things they have done on behalf of others. And if they're christian or not, they could probably do that.
[00:16:23] But the prophet Isaiah gives us, I think, a little bit more of a glimpse at what I believe Paul means here in Isaiah 64 six, where he says, all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.
[00:16:35] In other words, not only are we sinners, but every good thing a human being does in the hope of earning God's acceptance and approval and forgiveness so that they can stand before God and boast on judgment day.
[00:16:46] All of those things are worthless to God.
[00:16:51] They're as if they've done no good at all.
[00:16:55] They have no merit, no value if done apart from faith in Jesus Christ. You cannot earn right standing before God.
[00:17:04] Let's move on in verses 19 and 20.
[00:17:08] Now we know that whatever the law says, it speaks to those who are subject to the law, so that every mouth may be shut and the whole world may be subject to God's judgment. For no one will be justified in his sight by the works of the law because the knowledge of sin comes through the law. So here I think Paul is getting to his point, the point he's trying to make.
[00:17:28] No one, not one person who has ever lived or will live shall be declared righteous in right standing before God based on their own goodness or the good that they've done for others. No one will stand before God and boast about how good they were in this life.
[00:17:43] Then he points out that the law of God, the Ten Commandments and the laws found throughout the Old Testament scriptures, they were never intended by God to be perfectly lived out by human beings.
[00:17:53] They were given to show us how impossible it is to live up to God's perfect standard of righteousness, to show us that no one can live a perfect life.
[00:18:01] They were given so that we might better understand our sin and how it offends God's holy character.
[00:18:07] The law reveals just how sinful we are, so that every mouth would be silenced in its boasting before God and the whole world held accountable him.
[00:18:15] You see, if God's standard is perfection, and we understand that we're born into sin, that we're all sinners and nothing that we can do, there's no way we can live a perfect life. Then that's a problem.
[00:18:29] You know, I trusted Christ as my savior and surrendered my life to him as Lord 42 years ago.
[00:18:35] And what is amazing about my journey, and some of you may have found the same, is that the more I study the Bible, the more I learn of God's character, his wills and ways, the more aware I become of my own sins before Christ. I could minimize and justify and excuse and blame others with the best of them.
[00:18:54] But I've come to realize that most days I am far from perfect.
[00:19:00] My personal belief is everyone sins at least once every day, and that might surprise you.
[00:19:07] We can sin in our thought life.
[00:19:10] We can sin in the words that we say.
[00:19:12] We can sin in the attitudes of our heart and in our actions and our behavior.
[00:19:20] I can't look back and identify one day that I lived perfectly.
[00:19:24] I've lived for 65 years and 83 days today, which means if I've sinned at least once per day, I've committed 23,808 sins so far in my lifetime.
[00:19:37] That's kind of sobering to think about.
[00:19:44] How many good things do you think I'd need to do to erase those sins in God's eyes and consider myself righteous before him, or be considered righteous by him?
[00:19:55] Let's read verse 21.
[00:19:59] But now, apart from the law, the righteousness of God has been revealed, attested to by the law and the prophets. Paul begins a transition here, and he uses this verse to move from the bad news to the good news.
[00:20:10] The righteousness of God has been revealed, he says, attested to by the law and the prophets. And basically that word righteousness means simply to be right with God, to have right standing with God.
[00:20:25] With all that sin, how does anyone get right with God?
[00:20:31] What I don't need is to strive for a better righteousness to myself, to try harder, to be better, to try to do better, to try my best to sin less often, to be more sincere about my religious practices. What I don't need is a self righteousness.
[00:20:47] What I need is a righteousness from God.
[00:20:53] As I told you earlier, there was one common theme in the Bible, from beginning to end, which is God's story of redemption. And Paul reveals that this is a story that Old Testament law and prophets pointed to. Maybe some of you here didn't realize that so much of the Old Testament scriptures point to one thing. King Jesus.
[00:21:12] Paul reveals that this is a story that Old Testament law and prophets pointed to, laws revealing God's perfection, how far we fall short, and why we need a savior.
[00:21:21] An Old Testament sacrificial system where spotless lambs are sacrifices representing the blood that would shed for forgiveness from the future lamb of God, the only one who could truly shed blood that could achieve forgiveness for us, the perfect sacrificial lamb.
[00:21:38] Paul speaks of the various Old Testament prophets who lived anywhere from 100 to 1000 years before Christ was born. Who? Over 300 times.
[00:21:47] Perfect time for a scan.
[00:21:50] Where was I?
[00:21:53] Prophets who lived anywhere from 100 to 1000 years before Christ was born, who prophesied over 300 times various dynamics of a future Messiah's birth, his life, his ministry, his miracles, his teachings, his betrayal, sufferings, death and resurrection, all fulfilled in one person, Jesus Christ.
[00:22:13] Years ago, there was a group of mathematicians who got together, and they tried to figure out the odds of one person just fulfilling seven of those prophecies.
[00:22:23] And the odds they came up with were astronomical.
[00:22:26] The odds are impossible for one person to fulfill hundreds of prophecies unless that person is God.
[00:22:34] So much of the Old Testament speaks to God's plan of redemption and of sinful humanity that has been fulfilled by his son.
[00:22:44] So are you ready for some good news?
[00:22:48] Yeah, I am. Let's read verses 22 24.
[00:22:54] The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, they are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
[00:23:10] You know, there's a story that I found that happened years ago in Ontario, Canada, where a canadian citizen was arrested for armed robbery by a constable named John Bolton.
[00:23:21] And while booking him, he noticed the man was wearing a cross around his neck that had a peculiar protrusion at the top.
[00:23:29] He asked the prisoner to remove it, and he saw that it was made in the shape of a cross. And he soon discovered that it would unlock most sets of handcuffs in the jail.
[00:23:40] What he found out was that one of the prisons, one of the prisons, there was a scheme that was hatched where the inmates were making these keys in the shape of a cross, and the cross was to be the means of their freedom.
[00:23:55] Ironic, isn't it, that this deceptive scheme, intended to be used for their escape, is the very means that God has provided for you and I to escape the consequences of sin and be declared righteous, justified in God's court of law.
[00:24:10] For God to be just, sin could not go unpunished.
[00:24:14] And Paul says, we all have sinned and fall short of God's glory. It means that we miss the mark of God's perfection. We miss the mark of his perfect righteousness. And Paul reminds us of the bad news, but surrounds it with good. And here's your good news sandwich. He says, God deems you righteous through your faith in Jesus Christ, through the redemption that is in Christ. It's called the great exchange, where in two corinthians 521, he says, he who knew no sin became sin for us, that in him we might become the righteousness of God. It's as if those who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus takes all of your sins of a lifetime on himself, and he gives you his right. Righteousness in its place.
[00:24:58] You are justified freely by God's grace.
[00:25:02] God says, I've devised a plan where someone else will take the punishment you deserve in your place and upon your faith will exchange your sin for his righteousness. What a deal.
[00:25:15] What an amazing gift of grace.
[00:25:20] There are several important terms that are all kind of tucked in these couple verses. And the first one is righteousness, which we have said simply means to be made right with God.
[00:25:32] And there's that word justified, and that means to be cleared not guilty.
[00:25:37] And then the word grace, and that means unmerited favor. It's God's sheer, undeserved mercy at no cost to you. How amazing is that?
[00:25:49] There's an acronym that someone coined years ago about grace, and it's God's riches at Christ's expense.
[00:26:00] See that? The difference between religion and Christianity is religion says, do all the other world religions believe they have developed a path of doing that will lead them to God? And Christianity says, done.
[00:26:17] When Jesus said, from the cross, it is finished. He is letting the world know that his work of redemption was absolutely complete.
[00:26:25] There was nothing else that could be added to a person's redemption. And I mean that in relationship to churches that teach, it's Jesus plus baptism, or it's Jesus plus confessing to priests, or it's Jesus plus speaking in tongues, or it's Jesus whatever, doing good works or living a religious life. The reality of it is all of those things diminish the work of the cross. If there's anything else but Jesus and nothing, it's Jesus alone with nothing that gives you eternal life and makes you right with God.
[00:27:03] And that word redemption, it pictures the slave market, where back in those times, slaves were placed on an auction block and someone would pick out the slave that they wanted to purchase and then pay the money for that slave. But then instead of enlisting that person as his slave, he instead sets him free.
[00:27:22] That's what redemption means. Someone else paying a cost for your freedom.
[00:27:31] The extreme price paid for us was the cross.
[00:27:38] Paul says this redemption is found through faith. And faith means trust and dependence and reliance upon. And it's not a faith in your good works or that you're a good person, or it's not faith that you are religious, and faith in your church practices. It's not even a faith in God.
[00:27:58] So many people say, well, I believe in God.
[00:28:02] But the Bible is clear that a saving faith is the faith alone in Jesus Christ, because he alone is the one who paid for your sins.
[00:28:12] The Bible says it's one way.
[00:28:15] John 14 six. Jesus declared, I am the way and the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me. The Bible says it's one name. Acts 412 says, salvation is found in no one else. For there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. And the Bible says it's one confession of faith. For in acts 221, it says, everyone who calls upon the name of Jesus shall be saved. Jesus is the answer to what ails us.
[00:28:40] There is no other remedy.
[00:28:44] Jesus is the eternal God who existed in the beginning with the Father and the spirit. Jesus was there, creating a perfect world with the Father and the spirit. Jesus is the one who was promised to Adam and Eve, who could right the wrongs and results of our sin. Jesus is the one in whom the law and the Old Testament sacrificially system pointed to. Jesus is the one in whom the prophets were told and who fulfilled hundreds of prophecies to his coming, his life, his ministry, his teaching, death and resurrection. Jesus came born through a virgin and lived 33 years of perfect, sinless life. Jesus is the perfect God man, who alone could pay for our sins. Jesus willingly chose to take the punishment for our sin by hanging on a cross. And Jesus was buried and on the third day rose from the grave, proving he was God and held victory over sin and death for every person who believes in him. Amen. Amen.
[00:29:33] And here's a verse that has meant a lot to me growing up in the catholic church, and it's rarely used in evangelism, and I don't know why.
[00:29:44] It's Galatians 221, and it says, I do not set aside the grace of God. For if righteousness could be gained by obedience to the law, then Christ died for nothing.
[00:29:59] And that's what we're saying when we think that it's anything else but Jesus and the cross makes absolutely no sense, does it? It makes no sense on why God would come in human flesh, live 33 years of perfect life, be nailed to the cross, shed his blood for the forgiveness of our sins, and then we would go on and say, well, you know what? That was a pretty neat example of self sacrifice. Are you kidding me?
[00:30:22] It makes no sense.
[00:30:25] If there was any other way to achieve a right standing with God, than through the cross.
[00:30:36] I told you. The Bible has one consistent theme running through the entire book, and that is God's story of redemption through Jesus Christ. And Jesus will return one day to restore the world to his original intentions.
[00:30:50] To close this morning, let's read the final two verses and land this message.
[00:30:55] Verses 25 and 26.
[00:31:00] God presented him as an atoning sacrifice in his blood, received through faith to demonstrate his righteousness. Because in his restraint, God passed over the sins previously committed. God presented him to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time so that he would be righteous and declare righteous, the one who has faith in Jesus.
[00:31:19] So the start of our journey together this morning in romans was to answer the question, how can I know I'm right with God?
[00:31:28] God declares the person righteous who has faith in Jesus.
[00:31:32] So the question has to be asked this morning, where do you stand with Jesus?
[00:31:39] Three weeks ago, my wife and I, Lisa, and the rest of our extended family had a memorial service for our sister in law, Debbie. She was only 67 years old and she was diagnosed with cancer. And less than three months later, she died. And it was sudden and totally unexpected.
[00:32:00] And to close the message this morning, I want to share part of the eulogy that I shared the day of her memorial service.
[00:32:07] We all try to live life to the fullest with family and friends. We have those special memories and glimpses of happiness throughout the years, but they can often fade into a lingering emptiness that cannot be filled.
[00:32:17] While we find ways to enjoy life, nothing seems to fully satisfy us for long. There are times we wonder, what is the meaning of life? What's the purpose of it all? Why do I exist?
[00:32:29] But there are responsibilities to fill things that must be done. And we quickly push those thoughts to the back of our minds. And something happens to a loved one, their life suddenly and abruptly comes to an end. We all want to believe that every loved one who leaves us is in a better place.
[00:32:45] For a brief moment, we think about what we try so hard not to think about death, even though it is the only thing that 100% of us all will experience one day in the future.
[00:32:55] It is a day we do not know. We cannot predict. And it is a day that we do not have a say over or any control over.
[00:33:02] We ask ourselves, what is really after this life? Can I know for certain what is in store for me?
[00:33:08] The funeral or memorial service comes once again to an end. We have shared fond memories. We've laughed, we've cried, we've hugged. We've shared a meal. We've said our goodbyes.
[00:33:18] Then, as quickly as possible, we get on with living life. We get busy with life's responsibilities and routine and relationships that remain. The whole idea of death is pushed far back in our minds.
[00:33:29] That is, until the next scary diagnosis or a loved one passes away again. And then we are confronted again by the brevity of life. Is this all there is? Or is there something after this life for me?
[00:33:42] Before I close in prayer, I want you to linger here with the question for a little bit longer.
[00:33:46] Debbie had placed her faith in Jesus Christ for her salvation. She believed that he was a God who came into this world to die for her sins on a cross and rose from the dead that first Easter morning, proving that he is God and that he held victory over sin and death for all who place their faith and trust in him.
[00:34:03] It's why that when Debbie faced death's door, she had peace.
[00:34:07] She believed she knew what was waiting for her after this life. Something that scary, but something far better than all the wonderful things she experienced in this life with you, her loved ones.
[00:34:17] Listen to these words of Jesus found in the Bible. I am the resurrection and the life. He who comes to me, though he dies, will live.
[00:34:24] Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
[00:34:29] What each of us needs to understand is that everything points to Jesus. Our calendar, our history is divided into the years before Christ and the years after Christ. The major holidays the majority of people in the world celebrate are about him. Christmas, his birth and Easter, his resurrection. Churches, hospitals, schools, orphanages, crisis response organizations have been named for him and do things in his name. More books have been written about him by far than anyone else who has ever lived. It's not even close. Millions upon millions of people have placed their faith in him, live for him and follow his teachings. And Debbie was one of them.
[00:35:02] Did you ever wonder why?
[00:35:05] Why after 2000 years, would one solitary man who only lived on earth for 33 years, who lived as a pauper with no formal education, no impressive credentials, who died a criminal's death, of all people, why would so much of life still be pointing to him?
[00:35:23] It doesn't make sense. Unless he is who he says he was.
[00:35:26] The God who loves you, who came in a rescue mission for you, who died on a cross for you, who paid the punishment for all you've ever done wrong, who rose from the dead and ascended back to heaven now offers to answer your question, what is after this life for me? And can I know for sure that I am right with God?
[00:35:46] First, John 511 13 says, God has given us his testimony. He who has the son has life. He who does not have the son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. In this life there can be a certainty, there can be an assurance, there can be an absolute no doubt that when I leave this planet, I am right with God.
[00:36:12] Debbie knew the sun.
[00:36:15] Debbie placed her faith in the sun, and she knew that when she died, she would go to heaven to be with the sun forever, not based on the good life she lived, but on her faith in Jesus.
[00:36:28] Why wait until death's door?
[00:36:32] You don't know when the day will be, but today you can tell Jesus you believe he is God and that he loves you and that he died to pay for your sins. You can ask him today to forgive you and come into your life as savior and lord. And he will respond to your prayer. He will forgive you, he'll come into your life, walk through life with you and grant you life with him forever.
[00:36:55] Jesus is making that offer to you this morning, and you can leave here today and know that you're right with God.
[00:37:06] In revelation 320, he says, here I am. I stand at the door of your heart and knock.
[00:37:12] If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and live with him and he with me.
[00:37:18] If you haven't yet, will you open your heart to Jesus this morning I want to spend just a minute moment in prayer. But first I want to give you an opportunity to talk things over with him.
[00:37:30] And if maybe for the first time, you feel like you really, truly understand now who Jesus is and what he has done for you, I want to exhort you to go ahead and pray and ask him to forgive you and be your savior. And you can do that right now. Go ahead and take a moment.
[00:38:20] If you made that decision this morning with heads bowed and eyes closed, I just want to ask you to acknowledge that today is the day that Christ has come in to your life and saved you.
[00:38:33] And you can do that by just raising your hand up and down to say, today I place my faith in Jesus Christ. Anyone at all.
[00:38:49] Father, we thank you so much for the gift of Jesus. We thank you for the gift of your grace, and we're thankful for your salvation by grace.
[00:38:58] Lord, if there's anyone here who has more questions, Lord, I just encourage them to come and talk with me after the service if they want to know more about you and what you've done for them.
[00:39:10] Father, we thank you for this morning, and we just pray that you continue to be glorified through the rest of the service this morning in Jesus name. Amen. We're going to go ahead and do what we do every Sunday, and we're going to move into a time of communion. And if you're in need of some elements, go ahead and raise your hand.
[00:39:27] A couple guys will be coming down and give you the elements that we're going to partake of. So go ahead and raise your hand if you need some elements. It so every Sunday we celebrate the Lord's supper, which is also known as communion. And we believe it's an ordinance given by Jesus himself for the believer in him, something he did with his disciples just before his betrayal, his arrest and ultimate crucifixion. And he told them to do this in remembrance of him, that every time we partake of the bread and the wine, that it represents our faith in him and what he did for us on the cross. So as we take the elements, we too are remembering his sacrificial love that earned for us forgiveness and eternal life in him.
[00:40:46] In Luke 20, 219 20, it says, Jesus took the bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, this is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. Church partake of the way for representing Jesus body was crucified for you.
[00:41:13] In the same way, after the supper, he took the cup, saying, this cup is a new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you. Church partake of the cup of juice representing Christ's blood that was shed for your forgiveness.
[00:41:26] The band would come on up, we're going to do another song, and then we'll close the gathering.
