Word Keeper

Sermon from April 25. Our Youth Minister preached.

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The Audio

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I Am not Ashamed of the Gospel

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This sermon is aimed at four types of people–but everyone can take something from it–Christians who are weary, non-Christians, skeptics, and spaced-out Christians

1 Corinthians 15:1-11

There is assurance in the Gospel (vs. 1-2). … We preach/proclaim the Gospel because w believe in it. You “cannot sell something you don’t believe in.” … We also must take a stand for the Gospel, a firm stand, and hold firm.

The Message of the Gospel is simple (vs. 3-4). … 1. Christ died for us. – Only He could do it… 2. Christ was buried. Confirmation that He really died… 3. Christ raised from the dead. He was enough.

There is evidence of the Gospel (vs. 5-8). … Jesus appeared to many people after his resurrection.

The result of the Gospel is change (vs. 9-11). … Paul, he used to be Saul, but was changed when he met Jesus. He was humbled, felt conviction, worked for Christ, and grew to understand he had a purpose in life. … We are first humbled in the presence of Christ. We cannot save ourselves, but the awesome power of Christ can.. Next we feel conviction. We have a need for a savior, we become excited about Christ, and our passion for the Gospel grows like a raging fire. Third, we began to work for Christ by spreading the word of the amazing Gospel that saves us. Finally, we realize our purpose in life. Each person has a different specific purpose from the next person, but we all have the same general purposes of glorifying God and maximizing His kingdom as we worship and serve Him.

Jason religion, Sunday Sermon

Part 2 of a two part series on what Christians believe . . .

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The Audio

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I couldn’t find the song … I think it’s called “The Water at the Well”

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Salvation

God invites us to be saved.

Salvation begins with God, who chose us (Ephesians 1:4-5) and extends his grace to us (Ephesians 2:8). … I don’t think this means that only certain people are “predestined” to be saved, but that we are all destined to be saved except that sometimes we have our own plans and don’t want to give up control of our lives. … And, by the way, His grace is free. No works required, but good works will likely be the result of Faith.

Salvation is made possible by the death of Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins (1 Peter 3:18). … It’s astonishing that Jesus, who is God, would die for us. This would be like one of your siblings taking a spanking for you, only on a much larger scale.

So, God invites us, now we must respond.

Salvation is received by repenting of sin (Luke 13:3), believing in Jesus (Acts 16:31), and confessing Jesus as Lord (Romans 10:9-10). … It’s that simple and yet so hard to do for many people, especially that last step.

Salvation involves initial salvation (John 3:3), continuing sanctification (John 17:17), and final glorification (Romans 8:30). … We must be born again. Then we continually improve ourselves. And finally we will be in Heaven.

The Holy Spirit

For the “world”, the unbelievers, the Holy Spirit convicts the world of sin (John 16:8). … He’s that little voice in your head saying “that’s not right, don’t do it.” We really should listen to Him more often.

During the process of salvation, the Holy Spirit brings about the New Birth in Christ (Titus 3:5-6) and seals us until the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13-14).

For believers, the Holy Spirit lives in believers (John 14:16-17), empowering us (Acts 1:8) and producing His fruit in us (Galatians 5:22-23). … The power of God lives within us. Why don’t we use it more often?

The Holy Spirit gives us gifts to use in ministry through the church (1 Corinthians 12:7, 11).

The Church

The church is the community of believers founded by Jesus Christ (Matthew 16:16-18).

The church refers to both the universal fellowship of all believers  (Ephesians 3:10) and the local congregation (1 Corinthians 1:2). … Some people take this and think it justifies not attending church, but about 98% of the Biblical references to the church are referring to local congregations. I think this implies that finding a local church and fellowshipping and worshiping with other believers is important.

The mission of the church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19-20).

The worship of the church includes two symbolic ordinances; baptism (Romans 6:3-4) and the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-25). … I believe believer’s baptism by submersion to be a symbol of conversion. Also, I believe the Lord’s Supper to be meant for believers only; it is an honor, a privilege, to take part in the Lord’s Supper.

Last Things

The Kingdom of God is both present (Luke 17:20-21) and future (Mark 14:25).

The Christian has hope of life after death (2 Corinthians 5:6-8). … I much prefer life instead of nothingness….

The Christian hope is centered in the return of Jesus Christ and resurrection of the dead (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

Following judgment (2 Corinthians 5:10), the righteous will spend eternity in Heaven (1 Peter 1:4) and the wicked will spend eternity in Hell (Revelation 20:15). … No matter what your world-view may be, the end result will be the same.

Jason religion, Sunday Sermon