Saved...Saved! Part Two

This morning we explored some of the things that salvation accomplishes in us and for us. For now I want to talk a bit about hope. There is much talk about hope, and for different people it means different things.

I think most people think of future hope. "I hope I find a good paying job." "I hope I marry a wonderful person." "I hope my friend recovers."

In the church, however, when we talk about hope we often are talking about future hope of heaven and all that goes with it. We think of no more trials. We think of streets of gold, dancing with the angels, and singing praises for an eternity. No more sorrow. No more pain.

But I think that Paul writes to the Philippians about hope that is past, present and future all at the same time:

"He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." Philippians 1:6

PAST: We have hope in the completed work of Christ on the cross on our behalf. Our salvation is a done deal. Jesus said, "It is finished" before He died. It's done. We can add nothing to the pot to sweeten the deal. Christ's offer of salvation includes reconciliation with God and freedom from guilt, shame, and death. We are now friends of God.

PRESENT: Our hope in the present is that He didn't just save us and then leave us to our own devices to figure out how to be like Him. He is doing the work in us. We are fully saved from our sin, but still have our struggles in terms of behavior, attitude, and heart issues. We are learning to "walk out" our salvation. This means allowing God to bring our lives in line with who we are in Christ. Another word for this is "sanctification," and it is the process of putting away those old things of the flesh and becoming more like Christ. It isn't instantaneous. It's a process, but it takes us submitting to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

FUTURE: Our future hope is the hope of one day being like Him and not dealing any more with the pressure and trials of our flesh. We will have new bodies and will be with Him in eternity. Again, we don't have to figure out how to get there. He said, "I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14:2-3)

Also, consider this:

"Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory."
I Corinthians 15:51-54

So allow me to paraphrase Philippians 1:6. It's the verse we started with at the beginning of this blog post. It kind of puts hope in perspective of how God sees it.

"He, in the past, began a good work in you by totally buying and providing salvation. He didn't stop there, because He is presently doing His work in you, and He will not stop until it's done. He will continue to carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus when you are with Him in eternity sporting a new body, and a heart that is like His."
Philippians 1:6

Tell me what your thoughts are! What does this past, present and future mean to you? How does it impact how you live your life?

Saved...Saved! Part One

We talked this morning about the amazing gift of salvation that we have through grace. We have done nothing to achieve salvation, nor have we done anything to earn it.

We talked about God putting His stamp on the work He's done, similar to the work of an artist who signs the picture he paints. God wants us to know that He alone has accomplished this.

It makes me think of the creation story. After each part of creation, the Bible tells us that God saw that it was good. I wonder if that is how He feels about His work of salvation as well.

Think about it.

Remember the terms we went over this morning to describe our condition apart from Christ? Let's review:

citizens of the kingdom of darkness
dead afar off lost sheep
children of wrath treacherous
sons of the devil sinners enemies
helpless without strength condemned
ungodly unrighteous adulterous
stiff-necked arrogant without life
sons of disobedience in bondage

Then there were the words that describe what we have become in Christ:

citizens of the Kingdom of light
alive in Christ brought near saved found
sons of love selfless sons of the Father
saints friends empowered
forgiven and justified godly righteous
faithful obedient humble free
obeying from the heart full of life

We come into this life broken, belonging in the first category--ungodly, treacherous, and stiff-necked. He does His work of grace in our life and we now fit into the second category--saved, sons of love, friends, and righteous. What a difference He makes in our lives.

"For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

Just like an artist admires and signs his amazing work, I kind of think that God does the same thing. Just like in the creation story, He sees that His work is good and then He says, "I did that!" He is pleased with what He has done, but we need to keep in mind that He has not just created us so that He could be pleased with His work. He also has prepared good works for us to do. We are not to sit idly so He or others can admire us. We are to do whatever good thing He has in mind for us.

Thoughts? Post a comment!

A Savior Has Been Born

The message this week was focused on the responses of the "players" in the story of Christmas:

• The Innkeeper - He was preoccupied with his own business.
• The Shepherds - They were, at first, afraid but they ultimately listened to the angel and went to find baby Jesus.
• King Herod - He was also afraid, but took action to eliminate what he perceived to be a threat to his own agenda.
• The Religious Leaders - Their response was pride, maybe because they wanted to be the first ones to know about the Messiah's birth.
• The Wise Men - Their response was one of perception. They paid attention to the evidence of the star and realized that the Messiah had been born.

Today, my challenge to you is this. As we go into the new year, what will your response to Christ be? It is interesting how many times people that are Christians have responses, in terms of how they do their daily lives, that are not unlike some of the "players" in the Christmas story.

So how about you? What will your response be day in and day out? Will you be like the innkeeper and be preoccupied with your own plans? Will you be like King Herod and be afraid to really commit 100% because of a fear of what will have to change in your life? Will you be like the religious leaders and do life on your own, being too prideful to admit a need for God to be involved in the intimate details of your life?

Or will you be like the shepherds, initially nervous about what might happen if you really seek Him, but in the end taking the leap of faith and following Him with reckless abandon? Will you be like the wise men, paying close attention God's hand prints all around you reminding you of God's love and care and desire for intimacy?

My prayer for you is that you will, like the shepherds, take the leap of faith and, like the wise men, look for God's hand prints and listen to what He says to you.

As we enter the new year, my prayer is that you will know Him and follow Him in a deeper and more intimate way.

Thoughts? Post a comment!

Create a Christmas that Shapes Your Spirit

Jesus came to change the world, but He also came to change us. (I really suspect that the way He can change the world is through us, but that's another topic.) The important thing, for today's message, is that we are to be like Jesus. Seeing what He sees. Hearing what He hears. Doing what He does.

We talked this morning about what changes Jesus wants to make in us:

• He came to give us a spirit of compassion.
• He came to give us a spirit of generosity--generosity with things like time, talents, and treasures as well as wisdom and forgiveness.
• He came to give us a spirit of grace and truth.

Think for a moment about the God we serve. He cares for us and cared enough to buy our salvation and eternal life when we were helpless in our sin. He is generous with us, giving us everything we need (but not necessarily everything we want sometimes) and has gifted each of us with talents and spiritual gifts. He has grace that he freely bestows on us, and His truth has set us free!

We are supposed to be like Him. If we are letting Him change us to be more and more like Him, we will have an impact on this world. We are His hands and feet in this world. Consider these scriptures:

"The King [Jesus] will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’" Matthew 25:14

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new ishere! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us."
II Corinthians 5:17-20

It is a wonderful thing to have received the gift of salvation. That is, by far, the best Christmas present ever. The fact that God has also gifted us with a responsibility to "be Jesus" to those around us is amazing to me! When we reach out to others in a spirit of compassion and generosity, we are showing Jesus to those around us.

It doesn't matter if it is December or April or August. When we reach out we are reminding them in a big way or a small way of the gift that came to mankind on that first Christmas night 2,000 years ago. It's our way of saying Merry Christmas all year long.

Thoughts? Post a comment!

Create a Christmas that Serves Your Community

Let's not do "Christmas as usual" this year. Let's not do "life as usual" starting now.

Today we talked about the Christ of Christmas who came to serve, and how we as Christians should do no less.

This post will consist of the scriptures we used this morning, and links for some organizations we recommend.

We follow Jesus' lead by walking in His shoes.

"Whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:44-45

We were born to serve.

"For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

We were born to serve those around us.

"The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’"
Matthew 25:40

We were born to serve globally.

"You are the light of the world." Matthew 5:14

The opportunities to give, to share, to help, and to bless are endless. I encourage each of you to ask God what He would have you do, not just during the Christmas holiday but throughout the year. (People are not just hungry, or thirsty, or homeless on December 25. Their needs are all year long.)

This morning we talked about a variety of opportunities. Here are some links to explore them further. Explore. Listen. Obey.

World Vision (U.S.)

World Vision (International)

Hoops of Hope (Austin Gutwein)

Hands and Feet (Woodland)

Yolo Wayfarer Center

Pregnancy Support Group

Advent Conspiracy

Living Water International

Help San Bruno Fire Victims (Facebook link)


How will you serve others this Christmas and the coming year? Post a comment! I'll be so excited to hear what you are going to do!

Create a Christmas that Strengthens Your Family

Many of us are not going to have the kind of Christmas we're used to. Money is tight. We're unemployed or under-employed. Bank accounts are diminishing and our retirement accounts are dissipating.

The good thing about a year like this is that it gives us a great opportunity to stop and focus on what is important during this Christmas season. Here at The Sanctuary, we are taking kind of a different look at Christmas in the next few weeks.

I am encouraging all of us to focus in on what is important. We all know the story of Jesus coming to be born in a stable and being worshiped by shepherds and wise men. One of my hopes is that in this interlude of our study in Romans, we will look at the Christmas story against the backdrop of what we have learned in Romans.

"Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand." Romans 5:1-2

But I digress...

Since this is the season of giving, it may be a good thing to think about giving in a different way. The day after Christmas, the wrapping paper will be in the trash bin, the bows and ribbons may be packed away for re-use next year, and the boxes will be stowed as well. Some of the gifts will have already been returned by then, and there's a good chance that some of the toys will be put aside or even broken.

The gifts we typically give and receive are often enjoyed for the moment, but at some point later on they are forgotten or worn out or broken.

So what to give? How about a gift that has eternal value? We talked this morning about blessing your children and loved ones, not just on Christmas but throughout the year. Consider doing that! You'll be putting things into them that will last a lifetime.

But also, maybe this is the time to really establish what your Family Values are. I suggested some this morning and encourage you to sit down and talk about it as a family. Maybe you could even post them somewhere in the house for easy reference. During this Christmas season, having this kind of a "family meeting" could be a time of bonding and closeness that can bring satisfaction in a way that no purchased gift could.

This is gift you give to your children. It is wrapped in love, tied up with integrity, and presented with a promise. Try it! The rewards will be on-going.

So just to remind you of the Family Values that I suggested this morning, here they are. Revise them or use them as is.

Family Values

As a family...

• we love, follow, and obey God.
• we stand up for right against wrong and despise injustice.
• we have a sense of responsibility and we fulfill our obligations.
• we admit when we're wrong and accept the consequences.
• we respect others, including those in authority.
• we value family.
• we have a responsibility to save money, spend money wisely and give money away generously, all as God leads.
• we value the worth of each individual, including ourselves.
• we work hard and do our best.
• we believe that with God's help we can accomplish anything God calls us to do.

What if each and every family were to spend time this Christmas and in the year ahead talking about and reinforcing values such as these? How would it change your family? Your community? Your church?

Talk to me! Post a comment!

Practical Suggestions for Cultivating Thankfulness

• Thank God for others.

• Weigh a small gift according to what that person is in your life.

• Never lose appreciation for a gift.

• Let nothing extinguish thankfulness.

• Be sure to practice verbal thanks to God and man.

• Be grateful and thankful for the usual. Most of us appreciate the unusual until it’s lost.

(Somebody said "it hurts more to have your arm cut off than it feels good to have it on.") Instead of complaining that roses have thorns, try rejoicing that thorns have roses!

• Be thankful for the least. The more you appreciate the little the more you will enjoy the average.