Gospel Approval

Note: This is Part 4 of a series of sermons based on Pastor J.D. Greear’s study, Gospel Revolutions.

Part 1, Gospel Change
Part 2, Gospel Discovery
Part 3, Gospel Acceptance
Part 4, Gospel Approval
Part 5, Gospel Response
Part 6, Gospel Faith (Coming March 11, 2012)
Part 7, Substitute Gospels (Coming March 18, 2012)
Part 8, Gospel Depth (Coming March 25, 2012)

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Text: Mark 10:17-31

I am often amused – or, more accurately, annoyed – by those coupons that come in the mail or in the newspaper that offer a percentage off of everything in a certain store. Sometimes, the coupon even exclaims that there are almost no exclusions. It sounds like a great offer. And it would be a great offer, except for the fact that, nearly always, the things that I would actually be interested in buying are marked off the “everything in the store” list by an asterisk that qualifies the offer and excludes several – or many – items the store carries. In the end, the asterisked qualifiers and limitations make the coupon worth much less than the print would lead us to believe.

Far too often, we approach God in the same way that the stores and advertisers approach us with these offers, the same way the Genie first presented himself to Aladdin. We come to God in response to verses we read or hear, such as Romans 12:1-2 or Matthew 11:28. We respond to God’s pursuit of us by coming to God, just like He desires us to. We come offering ourselves over to God “completely.” Only, we bring ourselves “completely” in such a way where the “completely” is marked by an asterisk.

 

Gospel Discovery

Note: This is Part 2 of a series of sermons based on Pastor J.D. Greear’s study, Gospel Revolutions.

Part 1, Gospel Change
Part 2, Gospel Discovery
Part 3, Gospel Acceptance
Part 4, Gospel Approval
Part 5, Gospel Response
Part 6, Gospel Faith (Coming March 11, 2012)
Part 7, Substitute Gospels (Coming March 18, 2012)
Part 8, Gospel Depth (Coming March 25, 2012)

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Text: Matthew 17:1-8

We are continuing this week our look at the Gospel and what it means for us as believers. Last week, we talked about how the Gospel seeks to change us. Too often, we try to get people to look like they are Christians in an effort to make them Christians, but that’s not how the Gospel works. The Gospel is not an outside-in effort. The Gospel changes us by working from the inside-out. God works in the Gospel by starting with our hearts. Once the transformation is accomplished there, the rest flows out as a result.

Today, we are talking about Gospel Discovery. When I was growing up, my mom’s parents built a second home on the side of a mountain in Ashe County in northwestern North Carolina. We spent a number of our summer vacation trips traveling from our home in New Orleans area up to this mountain retreat. The front porch of their home was a wide, covered place with a number of rocking chairs and a swing. The scenery was gorgeous, with a view of three other mountains. We spent much of our time relaxing there, morning, noon, and night.

 

We Are Equipped

Text: Ephesians 4:7-16

Today, we are expressing our commitment to reach out to children all across the world in an effort to provide some joy and necessities through our shoeboxes. Even more, we will be part of allowing those children the opportunity to hear and respond to God’s invitation to be part of the family. From right where we are, we will potentially touch lives in any of six continents. We will join together in an effort to show boys and girls from 2 to 14 just how they should go in their lives. “Train up a child in the way he should go,” Proverbs tells us. And we are taking part of a global effort to help, in a small way, train up children in the way they should go.

An African proverb says, “It takes a village to raise a child.” We know this to be true. We rely on many others to help us raise our children. We turn to friends, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and siblings. We rely on public and private institutions with teachers and librarians, sports leagues with coaches, or boys and girls clubs with their mentors and leaders. Even in the church, we send our children off to others for Sunday School and Vacation Bible School and extended care.

 

We Are a People of Untold Strength

Text: Ephesians 3:14-21

“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me,” so Paul tells the Philippians in the midst of considering all of the many troubles he had endured as he is closing his letter to them. Jesus, in response to questions of frustration from the disciples about why they could not cast out a demon, said this in Matthew 17:20, “’Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.’”

We have read these verses, and others like them, countless times. We have meditated on them. We have prayed over them. We have studied them. We have trusted them. We have claimed them, as the saying goes in some Christian circles. We have even used them as proof for our summary judgments against others or even ourselves. “If we just believed enough, this wouldn’t be a problem.” “If you just had more faith, the illness would be gone.” Just believe, and our world will be healthy, wealthy, and wise, and we will enjoy life once again as God fulfills our every desires.

So I wonder this morning: have any of you moved a mountain lately? Or ever? Not a metaphorical one. Not some hardship that felt like a mountain. I mean a real, true, dirt and rock and plant and animal-infested rise of the earth that is piled at least 1,000 feet high (because that’s the definition of what it means to be a mountain, at least here in America). Yeah, I haven’t either. Yet, Jesus clearly says that if we have faith that corresponds to just a mustard seed, such a deed would be as easy as writing our name or laying down on a pillow. Indeed, He promises that nothing will be impossible for those of us who have faith.

 

Good News

Did you know that God wants to create a family for Himself? And did you know that God wants all of us – you and me and everyone in this room and everyone else in the whole world to be part of His family?

The problem is, we can’t be his family. Because we do things that are wrong that keep us out of God’s family. Things God doesn’t like. Things God can’t have in His house or among His family members. The Bible calls those things sin. And the punishment for sin is severe. The punishment is that we have to be apart from God for all of eternity. He doesn’t want that! We shouldn’t want that, either!

But the Good News – God’s own message to us – is that He loved us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to be one of us, live as one of us, and then take the punishment for our sin for us by dying on a cross. If we had done that, we would be dead forever – separated from God for all of eternity. But not Jesus. Jesus was innocent – He never sinned! After three days, Jesus rose from the dead and now He lives. And because He lives, our debt – our punishment for all of the wrong things we do – is paid. God can declare us righteous and whole and complete.

Jesus is never going to die again. And he wants us to be with Him when this life is over and we die here. We can do that if we believe that Jesus has died for us and our own personal sins. AND if we repent. Repent means to turn away from something and not do it anymore. We have to repent from our sins. We turn away from them and do our best – and God promises to help us here – to never do them again.

We call this being saved. And God wants you to be saved. And He wants me to be saved. I was saved a long time ago – at least to you and me – way back in 1987. I knew then that I did wrong things, I needed God to forgive me (which He promises He will do for anyone who asks). So I asked Him to. And you know what? He did! I’m forgiven. And I trust that I’m forgiven because of what Jesus did for me, and what He did for you.

Because I’m forgiven, I know that I will get to spend eternity with God in heaven and the new creation.

If any of you know that you need to be saved, then maybe you can write me (daryl “underscore” j “underscore” white AT yahoo DOT com) and talk to me about it. I’d love to journey that road together with you!