Romans 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: exceedingly:
What a wonderful God we serve! How amazing His grace is to all of us who believe. Some where out in life you may have gotten the idea that God loves you because of how good you are or how well you obey. That is not the truth taught here.
God loves you because He is good. He gave the law to show you how much you didn’t deserve His love. Then He said I love you in spite of your failures so that you would be amazed at how good He is.
He loved you like that before you were saved. He loves you in the same way after you are saved. You will never measure up. That is impossible no matter how crippling it is to your pride. He is never impressed with anything you do, good or bad.
So today rest in the fact that He loves you. Your relationship is not works based, oriented, or any other word you could fit in that sentence. He loves you.
Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
What an indictment! Men, the human race, did not want to know God. They did not want God in their knowledge, their thoughts, their lives. So God gave them what they wanted. They walked away from God. They did what they wanted and things that were not pleasing to God.
What attitude do you have towards God right now? Do you want to know Him and walk with Him? Do you have a hunger for a relationship with Him?
I want to serve Him. I want to know Him. I want to seek after Him.
What a horrible thought to realize that mankind was given over to a mind that was foreign to God, perverted, twisted, and with no desire for God.
Nece Pierce joined Vision last night. Nece and Steve were married just a little over a week ago. Nece is a super sweet lady, very much in love with the Lord Jesus. Please join me in welcoming Nece to Vision. Pray for her and Steve in their new marriage that God will use them greatly.
John 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
The world hates Christians that really know and believe in Jesus. We should find this as no surprise. They hated Jesus before they hated us. There are a couple of thoughts that you could apply from this verse.
We shouldn’t run from being hated and persecuted. Jesus didn’t and neither should we. So, we shouldn’t hide our faith. We should be bold in our witness and love for Jesus. We know that they will not accept the message, many times, but that gives us no excuse not to tell the truth.
On the other hand, they hate Christians many times for the dumb things that we do. We want to fight about things that aren’t important to our faith. You do not need to try to get lost people to live the holy lives that God’s people live. You do not need to try and be critical of others, proud of yourself and legislating their morality.
Morality will not save them. They need simply to know that they have sinned against a holy God and deserve eternal punishment but Jesus died to free them from their sin. Our arrogance often is the reason they hate us, not our faith.
We should be respectful of others even if they do not agree. We should not try to force them into submission to our message or method but wait on the Holy Spirit to convict of sin.
Celebration Sunday is just around the corner. God has been so good to us to give us 4 years. He has done great things in our midst. I am looking forward to all that He has for our future until Jesus comes back for us. Be sure and get March 21st on your calendar. We will be setting up tents outside to eat together. There will be a Chili Cook Off for the men and a Bake Off for the ladies. I hope you will invite your friends. Bring someone who doesn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. There would be nothing more exciting or a bigger blessing than to see someone get saved that day.
This evening we will have our monthly question and answer session so be sure and get your questions back to the sound booth. Do you have any questions about our church, the ministry, missionaries, Christian businessmen, the Bible, etc. I will attempt to answer them tonight.
Thanks for all you do, for your faithfulness, your giving, your service, and all else that you do. God bless each of you.
Here are a few pictures so that you can see how God is using your missionary in Chile, South America. When the earthquake happened they were living and serving right there. The Holts are members of Vision.
They took several thousand dollars worth of supplies into the most affected area. They passed out thousands of tracts and helped two churches that had been greatly affected. I hope that you will be praying for the Holts and the ministry that they have in Chile. Pray that this time of great heart ache will bring many to Christ.
Jason and some men of his church praying as they prepare to go out!
Jeff and Mindy are missionaries in La Plata, Argentina. God is greatly using them in the ministry. He has allowed Jeff to start 2 churches, have a Bible School, be on the radio 2 hours a day and many other ministries to get the gospel of Jesus out to the lost.
Jeff and Mindy have 3 beautiful girls and another on the way. Their names are Lydia, Adrianna, and Johanna. God is really using this beautiful family.
Jeff, I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish you a very special birthday. You are a blessing from God to our church. I am very thankful to God for the friendship that He has allowed us to have with you. We love you very much.
I pray God blesses you greatly in your birthday and all that you are doing in the ministry.
I hope all of Vision will join me in wishing Jeff a very special Happy Birthday.
