In the course of serving God day by day, we can get distracted by the apparently better or flashier service of others. I teach Sunday School to, usually two people but occasionally as many as four or five. Sometimes when I visit a bigger church, I look at the huge list of Sunday School class offerings, broken down by age, sex, etc. I look down at my feet and think about how nice it would be to actually utilize all the extra things in my teacher's guide built in for larger classes. Does God give grades for the size or impressiveness of a class or a special group? Does the person who cooks the meals for potlucks or brings the snacks for VBS get as much credit as the one who programs the music or performs a special or teaches a senior class?
In Luke 17, we find the answer: no. We're all servants. Since our human efforts to impress God, even our good deeds are counted as dirty rags, (It's not what you do for Him, it's what He did for you) God isn't some teacher whom you can kiss up to and get a better place in the class.
The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it would obey you. "Would any of you say to your servant, who had just come in from the field after plowing or tending sheep, ‘Come! Sit down for dinner'? Wouldn't you say instead, ‘Fix my dinner. Put on the clothes of a table servant and wait on me while I eat and drink. After that, you can eat and drink'? You won't thank the servant because the servant did what you asked, will you? In the same way, when you have done everything required of you, you should say, ‘We servants deserve no special praise. We have only done our duty.'"
Luke 17:5-10
Whatever we do for God, we're doing just what we're supposed to do. Billy Graham is just doing his duty, the church janitor is doing his duty; Paul was doing only his duty. If your heart is in your service and you're serving God and people because you love them and not because you're trying to gain favor, then you're doing the right thing.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Sunday, April 21, 2013
First things first: Are you saved?
I love that new blog smell... Introductions: Hi, I'm Kristopher and maybe you've read my old blogs or maybe you've just come across this new one. Really it makes no difference since the old ones are gone and this new one is going to be a tour of a Christian's life.
First, as a believer in Christ and one who wants to see others come to know Him, I'm going to walk through the basics. Some call it the plan of salvation, the Roman road, etc. I just call it first things first. A Christian, simply put, is a person who has given his life to imitating or becoming more like Christ in words, thoughts and actions. How do you do that? Glad you asked.
1: Come to understand that they are a sinner, having broken God's law and His heart.
Romans 3:23 says that all of us, no matter who we are, have fallen short of pleasing God. God is perfect, we aren't. Stealing, cursing, lying, hatred, gossip, lust, all are things that in word or deed violate God's holy standard. Once you've done that, you're under judgement. No free passes. No "my good outweighs my bad" nonsense. You can't be good enough for heaven. Aw, bummer. You're pretty much toast, right? Wait a sec.
2: Know that Jesus, God's anointed one and only Son, paid the price for your sin.
Since the fall of man, only blood has been able to redeem sin. Sin is so offensive to God that someone has to pay the price with their life. For thousands of years, God fearing people offered animal sacrifices. As a group, the Hebrew people had a system of temple worship and their high priests would offer up the blood of a spotless perfect lamb to atone for the sins of the nation of Israel. This system was flawed in that animal could only cover but not purify. Only a perfect human being could, by keeping God's Law perfectly, become the final and total sacrifice.
Jesus filled that role.
Romans 6:23 says that what we earn for our sin is death, literal physical death and separation from God's grace and mercy forever. We will face eternity in hell for our sins. But, the verse also says that God's gift to us, the result of His grace and mercy is this: eternal life through Jesus. Jesus said that He was The Way, The Truth and The Life and that to get to God, you had to first know Him. There is no other way to be saved.
John 14:6; Ephesians 2:8,9
3: Believe in Jesus as your savior, accept His sacrifice on your behalf and His resurrection so that you may one day live forever with Him.
John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:3-9; Philippians 2:5-11; Revelation 3:20
That's it. The simple version is: Know that you're a sinner, believe that Jesus is who He says He is and accept Jesus as the Lamb of God, your Lord and Savior.
I wanted to get this down as the first entry. For fellow believers, it bears repeating. For anyone else, I hope you will heed the words of God written here, that you will at least consider that He is right and that you are wrong because that is the first step on the road to salvation.
First, as a believer in Christ and one who wants to see others come to know Him, I'm going to walk through the basics. Some call it the plan of salvation, the Roman road, etc. I just call it first things first. A Christian, simply put, is a person who has given his life to imitating or becoming more like Christ in words, thoughts and actions. How do you do that? Glad you asked.
1: Come to understand that they are a sinner, having broken God's law and His heart.
Romans 3:23 says that all of us, no matter who we are, have fallen short of pleasing God. God is perfect, we aren't. Stealing, cursing, lying, hatred, gossip, lust, all are things that in word or deed violate God's holy standard. Once you've done that, you're under judgement. No free passes. No "my good outweighs my bad" nonsense. You can't be good enough for heaven. Aw, bummer. You're pretty much toast, right? Wait a sec.
2: Know that Jesus, God's anointed one and only Son, paid the price for your sin.
Since the fall of man, only blood has been able to redeem sin. Sin is so offensive to God that someone has to pay the price with their life. For thousands of years, God fearing people offered animal sacrifices. As a group, the Hebrew people had a system of temple worship and their high priests would offer up the blood of a spotless perfect lamb to atone for the sins of the nation of Israel. This system was flawed in that animal could only cover but not purify. Only a perfect human being could, by keeping God's Law perfectly, become the final and total sacrifice.
Jesus filled that role.
Romans 6:23 says that what we earn for our sin is death, literal physical death and separation from God's grace and mercy forever. We will face eternity in hell for our sins. But, the verse also says that God's gift to us, the result of His grace and mercy is this: eternal life through Jesus. Jesus said that He was The Way, The Truth and The Life and that to get to God, you had to first know Him. There is no other way to be saved.
John 14:6; Ephesians 2:8,9
3: Believe in Jesus as your savior, accept His sacrifice on your behalf and His resurrection so that you may one day live forever with Him.
John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 15:3-9; Philippians 2:5-11; Revelation 3:20
That's it. The simple version is: Know that you're a sinner, believe that Jesus is who He says He is and accept Jesus as the Lamb of God, your Lord and Savior.
I wanted to get this down as the first entry. For fellow believers, it bears repeating. For anyone else, I hope you will heed the words of God written here, that you will at least consider that He is right and that you are wrong because that is the first step on the road to salvation.
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