Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Weekly Schedule 8/26

Tuesday August 28th- Dig Into the Sermon group 6:30 pm.

Wednesday August 29th- Friends Women Fellowship 9:30 am
Lunch Devotional Group 12:15-12:45

Sunday September 2nd- Sunday School9:30 am; Fellowship Time10:30;
Morning Worship 10:45;
Iglesia Amigos Evangelicos
3:00 pm

This week's sermon: Discipleship or Sin Management?

Ephesians 2:1-10.
We all started out dead in our sins. It should come as no surprise that those without Christ in their lives act like non-Christians. It should be our concern to introduce them to Christ so that he can change their hearts and live His life through them.

A discipleship focus in our hearts and minds emphasizes a relationship with Christ that He uses to bring us into alignment with Himself. This is contrary to the religion of sin management that is busy categorizing sin and coming up with ways to keep the sins we like, while balancing out those same sins with good works. Sin management leaves us slaves to sin, consumed by trying to find our own solutions. Discipleship frees us to follow the person of Jesus, confident that we can trust him with our own lives, as well as the lives of those around us.

Matthew 23:13.
Jesus told the religious people of his time, "woe to you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor do you let those enter who are trying to." Are we barring the doors of heaven to those who desperately need a savior?

Matthew 9:12.
Jesus said, "it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." Are we expecting people to shape up before they come to Christ? They are unable to "fix" their lives, just like we are unable to "fix" ours. We must direct people to Jesus to receive from Him eternal life not just for after they die, but starting now.

Monday, August 20, 2007

Weekly Schedule 8/19

Tuesday August 21st- Elder's Meeting 6:30 pm.
No Dig Into the Sermon group.

Wednesday August 22nd- Lunch Devotional Group 12:15-12:45

Sunday August26th- Sunday School9:30 am; Fellowship Time10:30;
Morning Worship 10:45;
Iglesia Amigos Evangelicos
3:00 pm

This week's sermon: Life or Death

Romans 3:21-26.
We have been saved by faith, but we must also live by faith! On our own, we are unable to bring our lives into alignment with God's perfect standard. We need Him to do the construction work on our lives so that we line up with His level.

Galatians 2:20-21.

We cannot live a life that glorifies God, Christ must live His life through us. We have to stop trying to do it on our own, we have to let our will for our lives die. We have to let go, so that Christ can begin to give us real life, life in Him.

2Corinthians 5:21.
God, in Christ has made an opportunity for us to not only have righteousness, but to become the very righteousness of God. We cannot hold that in our hand, or possess it. It has to invade us and take over. We are to be transformed into God's perfect righteousness.

Deuteronomy 30:15.

So, we are left with a choice. We can choose to continue living in our own strength, pursuing our own goals, trying desparately to produce our own righteousness. That path leads only to death and destruction--Isaiah 64:6 tells us our righteousness is as filthy rags. Or we can choose to surrender and let Christ begin to work out God's righteousness in us. That choice leads to life-- true life, life abundant, life eternal, life in Christ.