GOSPEL :: FAMILY :: MISSION
Last week we talked about grace. This week we are going to talk about forgiveness. True change in our lives is a radical act of God’s grace. The process for experiencing that change then, requires that we humble ourselves and learn to receive his grace. But we will never be able to fully receive and experience grace until we are able to extend grace to others.
Our plan over the summer is to devote six weeks of preaching through a sermon series called The People of The Well. What we want to do is anchor ourselves to two texts that have heavily influenced the ethos of who we are. So we’ll spend the first three weeks in Acts 2:42 – 47 as we examine the work of God in and through the early church. And then we’ll take a break over the month of July for some guest preachers. And then we’ll resume our series in August with the final 3 weeks focusing on Jesus’ interaction with the woman at the well in John 4:5 – 42.
Last week we talked about what it means to commit to serving God as our master rather than our sinful desires and behaviors. This week we are going to talk about God’s grace and how it applies to our growth in holiness.
Five years ago, my wife, our kids and I spent the summer praying through a decision to answer the call to plant a church here in Hastings, NE. And then in August of 2012 we gathered with four other adults and 3 other kids to begin studying the Scriptures, sharing life with one another and praying for one another on a weekly basis.
Last week we talked about confession. This week we are going to talk about commitment. It is a spiritual truth that we cannot serve two masters; it is also a spiritual truth that the one we serve is, our master. If we listen to and obey sin, then sin will be our master. If we listen to and obey God, then God will be our master.
Last week we talked about self-examination – getting to the sin beneath the sin in our lives. This week we are going to talk about a very natural next step, which is confession. If we want freedom from our sins, we must be honest about those sins with others.
In our final passage of Luke’s gospel, Jesus calls his disciples to be his witnesses, he promises to send the Holy Spirit to them, blesses them one final time and leaves them worshipping him with great joy.
We have talked about believing & applying, powerlessness, hope, and surrender. The goal of the first four weeks was to get us to the point where we are ready to seek God and trust him to change us. This week we are going to start digging deeper into our struggles by discussing the principle of self-examination.
I want you to imagine that you’re sitting down with someone you love dearly. Maybe it’s a friend, or a relative, or a coworker, or a spouse, or your child. Now imagine that you know that this is the very last conversation you will have with them in person on this Earth. Now ask yourself, what would I say to them? What would I regret not saying if this was the last time I ever saw them?
Last week we talked about how the truth that though we are powerless to change ourselves, we are not without hope for change. There are two ways to live: (1) on our own strength according to our own wisdom and (2) on God’s strength according to God’s wisdom.
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