Steps to Peace with God
Notes
Transcript
Welcome
Welcome
Good morning and welcome. We have a different kind of Sunday happening today. Of course we are all anticipating the big event with Franklin Graham at Payne arena in Hidalgo this afternoon.
We have a large group of Prayer Team members that are going to be serving this afternoon. Olga and I will be meeting with Franklin Graham this afternoon and serving in the Decision Tent acting as prayer counselors.
We are expecting to have many salvation conversations this afternoon and over the next few days will be receiving referrals from the Billy Graham association from people who have made decisions. We will be inviting these people into a discipleship course and to visit our church.
I hope that you will be prepared to receive our new guests in the next few weeks and make them feel welcome.
And I hope that you will be in prayer about this event this afternoon.
In many ways this could be a turning point for this church and we depend on all of you to play your part in being ready to receive these guests.
Our time together this morning is brief, so I did not want to attempt to break down the next passage in the Book of Acts this morning. Instead I want to look at this idea of salvation and peace as we look at the brief evangelistic tract, titled “Steps to Peace with God”...
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 We have also obtained access through him by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also boast in our afflictions, because we know that affliction produces endurance, 4 endurance produces proven character, and proven character produces hope. 5 This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
[pray]
1. God’s Purpose: Peace & Life
1. God’s Purpose: Peace & Life
This passage says that we can have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
How’s your peace going?
Some of you might say “I’m alright.”
Some might say “It could be better.”
And others of you might say “Horrible! Where do I find this peace?”
I know that many of us here today are believers in Christ. Others of us know Christ, but our faith is a bit battered and maybe not what it once was. But there might be people here today that are searching for this peace.
You might have heard Philippians 4:7, which says that there is a peace that surpasses all understanding, but have you heard of 4:6?
6 Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
That’s what were talking about today. Peace! This peace is promised us when we are in the midst of our worries, our anxieties, our sadness, our pain.
God loves you and wants you to experience peace and life—abundant and eternal.
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
This peace can only be found in Jesus Christ.
God wants for us to “have life and have it in abundance” (John 10:10). And it is only in Christ that we can find this abundance of peace.
Why don’t most people have this peace and abundant life that God planned for us to have?
We have a problem that takes away our peace and we don’t want to recognize it.
2. The Problem: Sin Separates Us from God
2. The Problem: Sin Separates Us from God
God created us in His own image to have an abundant life. However, he did not make us as robots to automatically love and obey Him. God gave us a will and freedom of choice. However this free will often leads us to believe that we can control everything in our lives. How often do we get to control everything in our lives? [Rarely, right?]
We choose to disobey God and go our own willful way. We still make this choice today. This results in separation from God. This is what the Bible calls “sin.”
23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God;
Our sinful choices result in separation from God. This separation from God is what Paul calls “death.”
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The Bible calls us away from death, from what we have called the "old man.” And points us toward life, toward what we call the “new man” or the “new creation.”
5 For if we have been united with him in the likeness of his death, we will certainly also be in the likeness of his resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be rendered powerless so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin, 7 since a person who has died is freed from sin.
However, sometimes rather than accepting this and putting our old self to the cross, we try to find other ways to reach God.
Our Attempts to Reach God
Our Attempts to Reach God
We attempt to reach God through:
Good works
Religion
Philosophy
Morality
The problem with these these ineffective ways, which seem to make good common sense to us, they lead us deeper into death (aka separation from God)...
12 There is a way that seems right to a person, but its end is the way to death.
I have told you before that God cannot coexist with sin. He simply cannot and will not put up with sin. It is our sinful choices that build a wall between us and God.
2 But your iniquities are separating you from your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not listen.
There is no way to reach God on our own power. We are not good enough to jump the gap. There is no way that we can do it on our own.
3. God’s Remedy: The Cross
3. God’s Remedy: The Cross
God knew this, but he wanted to befriend us. He had a plan, actually in place before the foundation of the world, to reach us and bring us into a relationship with himself...
16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose from the grave. He paid the penalty for our sin and bridged the gap between God and people.
5 For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,
18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,
8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God has provided the only way. Each person must make a choice.
There are people who choose to reject Christ and return to their sinful ways.
There are also those who choose to accept Christ and believe in him and to turn away from their sin.
Which person are you?
4. Our Response: Receive Christ
4. Our Response: Receive Christ
Where are you? Which way have you turned? Have you chosen Christ or chosen your own way?
We must trust Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and receive him by personal invitation.
The New Testament is clear that the ONLY way to salvation is through Christ.
20 See! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
12 But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name,
9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
Will You Receive Jesus Christ Right Now?
Will You Receive Jesus Christ Right Now?
Admit your need for forgiveness of your sins.
Be willing to turn from your sins (repent) and ask for God’s forgiveness.
Believe that Jesus Christ died for you on the cross and rose from the grave.
Through prayer, invite Jesus Christ to come in and control your life through the Holy Spirit. (Receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior.)
How You Can Pray
How You Can Pray
Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I want to turn from my sins, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe that Jesus Christ is Your Son. I believe He died for my sins and that You raised Him to life. I want Him to come into my heart and to take control of my life. I want to trust Jesus as my Savior and follow Him as my Lord from this day forward. In Jesus’ Name, amen.
God’s Assurance: His Word
God’s Assurance: His Word
If you prayed this prayer or something similar in your life, the Bible says:
13 For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Did you sincerely ask Jesus Christ to come into your life?
8 For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift—9 not from works, so that no one can boast.
12 The one who has the Son has life. The one who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
Receiving Christ, we are born into God’s family through the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit who indwells every believer. This is called regeneration, or the “new birth”
This is Just the Beginning of a Wonderful New Life in Jesus Christ
This is Just the Beginning of a Wonderful New Life in Jesus Christ
To deepen this relationship you should:
Read your Bible every day to know Jesus Christ better.
Talk to God in prayer every day.
Tell others about Christ.
Worship, fellowship, and serve with other Christians in a church where God’s Word is preached.
As Christ’s representative in a needy world, demonstrate your new life by your love and concern for others.