Salvation

o Story

Welcome – thank you for making me and my wife feel very welcome in Narromine. I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to be your new minister and I pray that I may be able to bless each of your lives, as I am sure you will bless mine. I have enjoyed meeting a few of you already and plan to meet rest as soon as I can.

I used to work for the salvation army, where I would spend a lot of time watching many kids get lost on their journey through the bush. When they would come to me for help, I would always walk them through three questions. Where are you? Where do you want to go? and how will you get there? After a while this became one of my maxims for my life and I applied it to navigating the journey of life. In our personal lives and spiritual lives we need to take stock take of our situation and honestly look at our situation and ask ourselves where we are at. Then we need to develop a vision and figure out where you want to go in life. Finally you need to figure out how to get there, it might take weeks, it might takes months, it might take years or it might take a life time but you need to develop a vision for where you want to go. After this planning takes place, we need to act on it. Not acting on the plan is as bad as acting without a plan.

Now, let me explain to you how I will be unpacking the topic of salvation.

Make sure I introduce instead of just provide a lead up

In this sermon today I want to bring the same approach to the idea of salvation. I want to explore where we currently are and why we need salvation. I want to talk about where we want to go. Finally, I want to unpack how we get there.

I used to work for the salvation army hiking department, where I would guide youth through their adventurous expeditions, that was required for their duke of Edinburgh award. Now to pass your Duke of Edinburgh, you would need to do a practice hike where the goal was for me to teach the kids the skills they would need for their qualifying Hike. The qualifying hike however was much more difficult, as the guide was not allowed to help in even the slightest way. Ideally the trip was meant to be completed without my presence but for obvious safety reasons, I could not leave 10 children in the bush by themselves. On the qualifying hikes my job was to stop them falling off cliffs, playing with snakes and killing each other. During this time, I found myself spending a lot of time watching kids get lost in the bush and I noticed that all the skills that I had taught them would become useless because many of them lacked a proper understanding on what being lost meant and how the skills would help their situation. After many trips I developed a strategy to teach them the basic principles around navigation. In their practice Hike I would drill three questions into them, Where are you? Where do you want to be? And how will you get there? Although these seem simple, once the kids learnt this way of approaching the times they got lost in the bush, they nearly always could figure out a solution to their problem.

Link: Well, where are we? I’m sure there won’t be too much consensus about this but maybe a better question would be, are we at the place we want to be?

Include a Story

After thinking about this formula extensively over the years, it has become one of my maxims for my life and I have had great success in applying it to the navigation through the journey of life. In our personal lives and spiritual lives, we need to honestly look at our situation and ask ourselves where we are at. Then we need to develop a vision and figure out where you want to go in life. Finally, you need to figure out how to get there, it might take weeks, it might take months, it might take years, but you need a plan. Another quote developed through the hiking programs was “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Nearly every area of life, I now approach it with this formula.

Google tells me that there is an estimate of 4200 differing religions in the world, ranging from atheism to Christianity. Out of the 4,200 religions Christianity is the biggest one of them all. Now when looking at Christianity in isolation we see that there are actually 41,000 denominations within Christianity. Furthermore as we can attest to, even within our own denomination we don’t all have the exact same perspective of who God is. So, the true number of dissenting perspectives is immeasurable. However, all these worldviews have one thing in common, “there is something wrong with us” and its only on how we fix it do we disagree. Even Evolutionists believe there is a problem, even if that problem happens to be us Christians.

In this sermon today, I want to bring the same approach to the idea of salvation. I want to explore where we currently are? I want to talk about where we want to be? Finally, I want to unpack how we get there?

We all agree there is something wrong with us (quote propaganda poem and the different denominations stats) There is some debate amongst various denominations about what is wrong and how to fix it, but Most believe we are separated from divinity

Google tells me that there is an estimate of 4200 differing religions in the world, ranging from atheism to Christianity. Out of the 4,200 religions Christianity is the biggest one of them all. Now when looking at Christianity in isolation we see that there are actually 41,000 denominations within Christianity. Furthermore as we can attest to, even within our own denomination we don’t all have the exact same perspective of who God is. So, the true number of dissenting perspectives is immeasurable. However, all these worldviews have one thing in common, “there is something wrong with us” and its only on how we fix it do we disagree. Even Evolutionists believe there is a problem, even if that problem happens to be us Christians.

Link: Well, where are we? I’m sure there won’t be too much consensus about this but maybe a better question would be, are we at the place we want to be?

Story of how it all started from Christian perspective adam and eve – our sin separated us from God. Hata, pesha and awon in the bible aveira râ?âh (evil or bad - something contrary to Gods nature) Rasha (wicked, something that is morally wrong) Adam hid from God not God from man. We choose against God and as a result we have been separated from Him. We became twisted and the environment twisted too.

For us the problem is told in the first few chapters of genesis. We start with God creating the entirety of the world and stating that it was very good. We lived in a good world that was made for us, but there was a rule in this paradise. God told adam and eve to not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The reason for God’s reasoning in including the tree in the garden is another sermon all together. We lived in paradise and were told to not eat of a single tree in the midst of the garden full of perfect trees. This is where we encounter the problem, our ancestors chose to willingly eat from the tree after a good review from the devil. From that point the bible says adam and eves eyes were opened, and they knew they were naked, suddenly, they felt ashamed about the bodies that God had made for them. Adam and eve do the logical thing and try to make clothes to cover the body that God had designed and add to perfection with their own efforts. After this the sun started to set and as was His habit, God came down to spend time with Adam and Eve. However, Adam and Eve are no longer eager to meet God, instead they try and hide from God. When confronted Adam blames his wife, who in turn blames the devil. At this point the very fabric of nature becomes twisted, chapter 3 vs 16 exposes new realities such as the woman being ruled by the man and Childbirth becomes painful … hear that women, it wasn’t your husband that caused your pain!! The sin acts likes a disease and spreads to infect nature, because of our sin the ground becomes cursed and requires hard work, the ground bears weeds and thorns and mankind is condemned to working till we die.

We broke the divine natural law

I believe our sin problem can be unpacked through this story and looking at the different Hebrew perspectives on sin. In the Hebrew language there are several different terms for sin, each providing a unique perspective on what sin is. The most commonly used terms for sin is: Hata, Pesha and awon.

Google tells me that there is an estimate of 4200 differing religions in the world, ranging from atheism to Christianity. Out of the 4,200 religions Christianity is the biggest one of them all. Now when looking at Christianity in isolation we see that there are actually 41,000 denominations within Christianity. Furthermore, as we can attest to, even within our own denomination we don’t all have the exact same perspective on our theology. So, the true number of dissenting perspectives is immeasurable. However, all these worldviews have one thing in common, “there is something wrong with us” and its only on how we fix it do we disagree. Even Evolutionists believe there is a problem, even if that problem happens to be us Christians.

Just like the natural wages of breaking away from life is death, the natural result of breaking with the source of life and good is death and evil.

Hata is literally translated as missing the mark. Matter of fact, the term is even used in the bible to refer to archery, where you aim for the target but miss. This shows the Hebrew of sin sometimes being a simple mistake. This tends to be our traditional view of sin and wrongdoing.

For us the problem is told in the first few chapters of genesis. We start with God creating the entirety of the world and stating that it was very good. We lived in a good world that was made for us.

Now we live in a sad state of existence. Mental health stats

This is seen in story of the fall, in the actual act of eating the fruit, it was a mistake, a lapse of judgment. However as seen in the story a mistake hardly ever stays a mistake.

However, there was one rule, God told adam and eve to not eat from a single tree in the garden, now to remind you this was a big garden, this garden had more than one tree, this garden was probably as big as a country filled with perfect trees, and we were told to avoid just one tree.

Where even Paul could not do what he wanted. Even nature and biology rebels (chemical imbalances)

Pesha is the Hebrew word for “to step” and is used to refer to the separation that occurs between man and God as a result for our sin. I see this as one of the key aspects of sin. Sin destroys our relationship with God because we actively choose to rebel against God and to stand for what He is against. God has expressed His heart to us through the bible and we can either choose what He loves or what He hates, the choice is naturally going to be relational.

This is where we encounter the problem, after receiving a single good review from the devil, our ancestors chose to willingly eat from the tree.

Instinct is contrary to scripture – instinct joke

This is seen in Adam hiding from God, its interesting to notice that God still showed up after we made the mistake, it was adam that separated from God. What happens in the creation story reoccurs in the second coming, where some people continue to try to hide from God, begging for the mountains to fall on them. Sin destroyed Adams relationship with God, despite God reaching out to man, Man chose evil and hid from good.

From that point the bible says adam and eves eyes were opened, and they knew they were naked, suddenly, they felt ashamed about the bodies that God had made for them.

Yogurt land – what do you do?

§ This leads me to the third Hebrew term for sin, Awon. Awon literally means “to twist” and when in the context of sin it refers to the twisting of our characters after we commit sin or the sin we commit because of our twisted characters. Every time we sin and every time we distance ourselves from God, our soul twists and we become more likely to sin again. A good analogy of this can be found in smoking, for every cigarette that you smoke, it is more likely that will have another one, to the point where you become an addict. The same with sin, we can become addicted to sin.

After this the sun started to set and as was His habit, God came down to spend time with Adam and Eve. However, Adam and Eve are no longer eager to meet God, instead they try and hide from God. When confronted Adam blames his wife, who in turn blames the devil.

Our fall is comprehensive

We see this in the story of the fall in how the entire essence of nature twists and becomes corrupted and adam and eve each have to carry unique burdens. We broke the divine natural law and as a result both ourselves and our environment became corrupted. Just like the resulting fall when breaking the law of gravity.

At this point the very fabric of nature becomes twisted, chapter 3 vs 16 exposes new realities such as the woman being ruled by the man and Childbirth becomes painful … hear that women, it wasn’t your husband that caused your pain!! The sin acts likes a disease and spreads to infect nature, because of our sin the ground becomes cursed and requires hard work, the ground bears weeds and thorns and mankind is condemned to working till the day we die.

All of this can be applied to our lives today. When I ask myself the following questions, I am forced to answer each of them with a “Yes.” Have you ever done wrong against God, have you ever sinned? Have you ever actively rebelled against God, or have you noticed that your actions have separated you from God? Have you noticed that your heart starts to become twisted and starts to enjoy the sin and it becomes hard to give up? Have you noticed how our imperfections have cause others around us to suffer?

I believe our sin problem can be unpacked through this story and by looking at the different Hebrew perspectives on sin. In the Hebrew language there are several different terms for sin, each providing a unique perspective on what sin is. The most commonly used terms for sin is: Hata, Pesha and awon.

Because the problem is so comprehensive, the solution needs to be equally as comprehensive.

Today we live in a world where we are surrounded by sin and to an extent, we are filled by it. The effects of sin and the hopelessness of our situation is evident. In Australia nearly half of people will suffer from a mental illness in their lives. With over 10% suffering from depression every year. We hear a lot about slip slop slap but statistically an Australian is more likely to die from suicide than skin cancer with men accounting for 77% of the number. something is defiantly wrong and we all know it. Our fall is absolutely comprehensive, it effects our actions, our relationships, environment and even our soul.

Hata is literally translated as missing the mark. Matter of fact, the term is even used in the bible to refer to archery, where you aim for the target but miss. This shows the Hebrew understanding of sin sometimes being a little more than a simple mistake. This tends to be our traditional view of sin and wrongdoing comes from. We view sin as an action, a mistake.

Link: I know that my portrayal of our situation is bleak but it’s the unfortunate reality. However, is this the reality that we want for ourselves? What do you want out of life? Where do you want to go?

A bird and a fish can fall in love, but where will they live? A bird cannot live in the depths of the ocean and the fish can’t live in the heights of the sky. Likewise, evil cannot dwell with good and man can not dwell with God. Just like Adam hid from God in genesis, we find ourselves hiding from God today, and we read in revelation about the wicked still hiding from God in the second coming, this is because wicked cannot exist in the presence of good. Jesus speaks of not putting old wine in new wineskin but as good Adventists none of us understand this parable because we don’t know much about wine, do we? So, let me give a more Adventist version, when giving an organ transplant, we first test for the compatibility of the patient and the reason for this is because if the transplant is not compatible then the patients body will reject the transplant. Good and evil are incompatible and as such salvation requires more than transplanting a single organ, it takes complete death and rebirth in Christ. Since there is no good in us, there is no part of us that can remain once we have been converted.

This is seen in story of the fall, in the actual act of eating the fruit, it was a mistake, a lapse of judgment and simply a wrong action. However as seen in the story a simple mistake hardly ever stays simple.

Paul washer and the truck analogy – it is impossible to come into contact with something as big as God without being changed.

If we remember the three aspects of sin from before, we have sin as a mistaken action, sin as relationally rebellious move and sin as something that twists us away from good, to something evil.

Pesha is the Hebrew word meaning “to step” or “to rebel” and is used to refer to the separation that occurs between man and God because of our sin. I see this as one of the key aspects of sin. Sin destroys our relationship with God because we actively choose to rebel against God and to stand for what He is against. God expresses His heart to us and we can either choose what He loves or what He hates, the choice is naturally going to be a relational one.

If we remember the three aspects of sin from before, we have sin as a mistaken action, sin as relationally rebellious move and sin as something that twists us away from good, to something evil.

But salvation is about more than just being reborn because what stops us from making the same choices in our second chance. Just like every new year’s resolution. We need reconciliation because the goal of salvation is not just cutting out our evil, it’s about returning to relationship with God.

If we remember the three aspects of sin from before, we have sin as a mistaken action, sin as relationally rebellious and sin as something that twists us away from good, to something evil.

This is seen in Adam hiding from God, its interesting to notice that God still showed up after he knew that we made the mistake, it was adam that separated from God, not the other way around. Sin destroyed Adams relationship with God, despite God reaching out to man, Man chose evil and hid from good.

The priority list. And its not just putting God in every area of our lives, its about doing every area of life with God. I don’t do this perfectly but that doesn’t make it any less true.

The only solution to solve the initial action is to go back in time, although it would be a convenient solution, it is not one offered to us. All we can do is own up to our shortcomings, and express regret. The action exists and cant be taken back, although the effects of what we have done can be dealt with.

This leads me to the third Hebrew term for sin, Awon. Awon literally means “to twist” and when in the context of sin it refers to the twisting of our hearts and characters towards desiring sin or it could refer to the sin we commit because of our twisted characters. Every time we sin and every time we distance ourselves from God, our soul twists and we become more likely to sin again. A good analogy of this can be found in smoking, for every cigarette that you smoke, it is more likely that will have another one, to the point where you become an addict. The same with sin, we can become addicted to sin.

The broken relationship with God because of our actions is something that needs to be remedied. we turned away from God, we rebelled, we mocked Him, we sided with His enemy's and when He reached out to us in the form of His son, We killed him. As a people we tried to kill God. In order to remedy the relational situation I believe there needs to be a dual approach.

Firstly we need to understand Gods law in the context of why it was given and then stop actively breaking it and as a result breaking our relationship with God. We all have relational laws with each other and Gods law can be viewed like them. One of my favorite examples of this is when looking between a Husband and a Wife, they have rules ranging from the simple to the complex and then a bunch more i’m still trying to figure out. Don’t cheat on me is one rule, the reason for the rule is because it would destroy the relationship, the message cheating sends is that I value the other person more than I value our relationship. another example is if your wife were to ask you to do something simple like taking off your muddy shoes before walking through the house because she just cleaned the floor, now if after hearing her plea you still decide to walk through the house with your dirty shoes, you are not simply telling her that you want to walk through the house, you are telling her that walking through the house is worth more to you than her and the effort she has put into cleaning it. The same way with Gods law, in order to return to relationship with God we need to stop actively breaking the relationship by not prioritizing God above everything else. Gods rules are not arbitrary, they are either for the sake of our relationship, the sake of whats best for us or the sake of His other creations.

Part of this is looking at our heart, Imagine if I was the perfect husband to my wife but in my heart I hated her, would you say that the situation was a good situation for either me or my wife? You see taking off your muddy shoes while muttering under your breath does not repair relationship and not cheating, but constantly wishing that you could also does not repair relationships.

In my personal opinion the later examples are worse than the former for two reason, Firstly we are misrepresenting love to them

The second part about remedying the relational impact sin had, is to simply be upfront with God. This is seen in relationships in that you would prefer if your spouse would tell you what they had done wrong and why, than to have to find out through other means. The act of being honest and transparent helps heal relationships. Don’t make excuses, don't underplay the effects of your actions, but be completely honest and humble. if we want to repair our relationship with God, we need to at least be genuine with Him. maybe we cant be perfect, but at least we can be is genuine. Just like people don't like having fake friends, I don't think God likes having fake Christians.

And im going to add a third one

So if we can all affirm that the solution needs to involve a return to relationship with God, we can move on to the next effect sin has on us, the twisting of our being.

I heard a saying in the last week that got me thinking about what it would look like if we only addressed the relational side without the addressing the corrupting nature of sin. The saying goes like, “A fish and a bird may fall in love, but where would they live?” you see a bird cannot live in the depths of the ocean and the fish can’t live in the heights of the sky. Likewise, evil cannot dwell with good and man can not dwell with God. The fish cant simply grow wings to join the bird because then it would die without the water, and the bird cant just learn to swim because then it would drown. You see the very nature of the fish and the bird must completely change in order for them to have a relationship. You cant simply add something good to something bad, we need to change the basis of our nature.

A bird cannot live in the depths of the ocean and the fish can’t live in the heights of the sky. Likewise, evil cannot dwell with good and man can not dwell with God. Just like Adam hid from God in genesis, we find ourselves hiding from God today, and we read in revelation about the wicked still hiding from God in the second coming, this is because wicked cannot exist in the presence of good. Jesus speaks of not putting old wine in new wineskin but as good Adventists none of us understand this parable because we don’t know much about wine, do we? So, let me give a more Adventist version, when giving an organ transplant, we first test for the compatibility of the patient and the reason for this is because if the transplant is not compatible then the patients body will reject the transplant. Good and evil are incompatible and as such salvation requires more than transplanting a single organ, it takes complete death and rebirth in Christ. Since there is no good in us, there is no part of us that can remain once we have been converted.

Ok so the natural question that needs to be answerd is this, if our problem is that we are comprehensivly evil and God is comprehensivly good, and to be with God we need to be good.

We see this in the story of the fall in how the entire essence of nature twists and becomes corrupted and adam and eve each have to carry unique burdens. We broke the divine natural law and as a result both ourselves and our environment became corrupted. Just like the result of breaking the law of gravity results can result in broken bones, breaking Gods natural law of justice and love fosters evil.

You see the very nature of the fish and the bird must change in order for them to have a relationship. You cant simply add something good to something bad, we need to change the basis of our nature.

So, salvation is two parts, it takes a complete renewal and then a reconciliation. What good is a second chance or a clean slate if we abuse the second chance like we did the first.

All of this can be applied to our lives today. It can be applied to my life today. To answer the question of where I am spiritually, I try to ask myself some other introspective questions on a regular basis and it scares me when I honestly have to say yes to them:

Jesus speaks of not putting old wine in new wineskin but as good Adventists none of us understand this parable because we don’t know much about wine, do we? So, let me give a more Adventist version, when giving an organ transplant, we first test for the compatibility of the patient and the reason for this is because if the transplant is not compatible then the patients body will reject the transplant. Good and evil are incompatible and as such salvation requires more than transplanting a single organ, it takes complete death and rebirth in Christ. Since there is no good in us, there is no part of us that can remain once we have been converted.

Jesus speaks of not putting old wine in new wineskin but I don't know much about wine and wineskins but, I have heard it explained in a more understandable way for me. When giving an organ transplant, we first test for the compatibility of the patient and the reason for this is because if the transplant is not compatible then the patients body will reject the transplant. Good and evil are incompatible and as such salvation requires more than transplanting a single organ, it takes complete death and rebirth in Christ. Since there is no good in us, there is no part of us that can remain once we have been converted.

A fish fell in love with a bird one day. What was his reason I could not say. The bird flew down its reflection to see, the fish jumped high and cried "Marry me." The bird simply laughed and flew away, "Birds marry birds!" was all she'd say.

But while she flew nothing else came to mind, save the face of the fish she was leaving behind. No other had spoken to her such words of love, not the swiftest falcon nor the sweetest dove. To the beauty of his fins a bird could not compare, or to the strength of his muscles as he lept through the air.

Suddenly she turned though she couldn't say why. Back to the water she quickly did fly. "Oh beautiful fish how can this be, a bird of the sky and a fish in the sea? We never could marry, our worlds are apart. So why cruelest fish have you stolen my heart?"

The fish gave his reply, and his words sang true. He told the lovely bird what in his soul he knew. "Beloved my beloved, oh do not despair, though I swim in the ocean and you in the air. Nothing in this world could keep us apart, if your love is as true as the love in my heart."

o A bird and a fish can fall in love, but where will they live? A bird cannot live in the depths of the ocean and the fish can’t live in the heights of the sky. Likewise, evil cannot dwell with good and man can not dwell with God. Just like Adam hid from God in genesis, we find ourselves hiding from God today, and we read in revelation about the wicked still hiding from God in the second coming, this is because wicked cannot exist in the presence of good. Jesus speaks of not putting old wine in new wineskin but as good Adventists none of us understand this parable because we don’t know much about wine, do we? So, let me give a more Adventist version, when giving an organ transplant, we first test for the compatibility of the patient and the reason for this is because if the transplant is not compatible then the patients body will reject the transplant. Good and evil are incompatible and as such salvation requires more than transplanting a single organ, it takes complete death and rebirth in Christ. Since there is no good in us, there is no part of us that can remain once we have been converted.

Now from the look on your face you think my tale a lie. You don't believe a beast of sea can marry beast of sky. These things that I sing, I can prove they are true. The children of the couple are known to all of you. A penguin is a bird that calls the ocean home. What of flying fish? It is in the air they roam.

If the problem with us is relational then the solution too needs to be relational too. We need to somehow be able to reconcile with God.

o A bird and a fish can fall in love, but where will they live? A bird cannot live in the depths of the ocean and the fish can’t live in the heights of the sky. Likewise, evil cannot dwell with good and man can not dwell with God. Just like Adam hid from God in genesis, we find ourselves hiding from God today, and we read in revelation about the wicked still hiding from God in the second coming, this is because wicked cannot exist in the presence of good. Jesus speaks of not putting old wine in new wineskin but as good Adventists none of us understand this parable because we don’t know much about wine, do we? So, let me give a more Adventist version, when giving an organ transplant, we first test for the compatibility of the patient and the reason for this is because if the transplant is not compatible then the patients body will reject the transplant. Good and evil are incompatible and as such salvation requires more than transplanting a single organ, it takes complete death and rebirth in Christ. Since there is no good in us, there is no part of us that can remain once we have been converted.

Am I acting against God’s wishes? Am I not doing my best? Am I missing the mark?

Jesus speaks of not putting old wine in new wineskin but as good Adventists none of us understand this parable because we don’t know much about wine, do we? So, let me give a more Adventist version, when giving an organ transplant, we first test for the compatibility of the patient and the reason for this is because if the transplant is not compatible then the patients body will reject the transplant. Good and evil are incompatible and as such salvation requires more than transplanting a single organ, it takes complete death and rebirth in Christ. Since there is no good in us, there is no part of us that can remain once we have been converted.

Paul washers story about the truck.

the change that occurs at conversion has to be complete.

Link: seems like a talk task, not only are we to have relationship with God, but in order to have relationship with God we need to change every aspect of our being. How do we do it? heres a hint, we don't, Christ does.

But how is that possible since even our best works is like filthy rags before God.

Do I sometimes actively rebel against God either in thought or in action? Have I noticed that my actions have separated me from God?

This same problem applies to our relationship with God. That is why we need Christ who makes it possible to live with the father.

Have I noticed that my heart has started to become twisted? Has it started to enjoy the sin? Am I addicted to evil? Have my actions caused others around me to suffer?

The same problem lies between God and man. There is nothing good found in man, not a single thing But in God there is no evil found, not a single drop and as a result we are an incompatible match.

The problem that I have described and the solutions i have suggested are in my opinion beyond us. We cant get where we want to go from where we are. We are completely dependent on Jesus to save us.

You see, I am an imperfect human being, I am not where I want to be. When I look around at the lives of world I live in, I see their imperfections too and I realize we live in a broken world. This world is not where we want it to be.

To illustrate our dependence Let me tell you a story about my little sister. one thing to know about her, is that she can sometimes be a bit of a drama queen. Maybe it was because all the drama that she started, but I remember that she was very unhappy growing up. Even as a kid i struggled to understand how she could be so very unhappy, I mean we both had everything we ever needed, although not always what we wanted. I remember the first time that my sister tried to run away, she was only 5 years the first time that she tried to run away. We had just finished having a board game night where we had all had fun, but when it came time to leave my sister refused and stated that she wanted to run away from home and live with her friend and I remember it clearly when she told my parents in front of our family friends that she gave was “they have more money than you do.” I don't remember much past that besides that my parents were quite hurt and that my sister was home in time for dinner.

The next time that she tried to run away from home was at the age of 12 but this time she actually stuck to her decision. She decided that she had enough and could do better on her own, so she promptly informed my parents of her decision to leave and then she stormed off to her room. She made a big deal about packing her bags and i kind of got the feeling like she was waiting for someone to stop her, but my parents surprised both me and her when they called her bluff and helped her pack her bags. They helped her carry her bags to the door and then waved her off as she slowly “ran away from home.” That day my little sister left home and I didn't see her until… well i didn't see her until it was time for dinner. You see she had only managed to leave home for several hours.

And the last time my sister left home I think she was 19 and this time she managed to stay away from home for nearly a year before coming back home to live, where she remains till this day.

Now the question I want to ask you is this, why did my 12 year old sister end up coming back home after only a few hours?

Now the question I want you to contemplate is why did my sisters story end each time with her returning home?

Well the first time i imagine she eventually realized that our well off family friends didn't necessarily want her to stay with them. When she was older I think she came back because she figured out that she actually had no where to go, no food to eat, no money, no transport and no hope for her situation for improving, save for going home.

Now the last time she left home she came back because she realized how much my parents actually gave her. She was given free accommodation, free food, a free car, free transportation costs, free tuition and she got all of this without having to do anything to receive it. My sister told me that the biggest eye opener came within the first week of renting her own place, the moment she realized that she actually had to buy toilet paper if she wanted to use it and it didn't just magically appear.

You see regardless of how appreciative of my parents she was, the parents were her source of value and her source of life. The same applies to us spiritually, Without Christ we are nothing. Trying to live the Christian life in our own power is as silly as a 12 year old running away to live life in her own power. The inherent emptiness a child has without his or her parent, is the same inherent emptiness a Christian has without Christ…. In ourselves, we are empty but in Christ is the fullness of life.

I remember, she used to be very unhappy, I never understood why because we had life pretty good as kids. As a Kid, we both got free rent, free food, free toys, free transport, free tuition and all while still retaining our freedom. However, as many kids do, she took these things for granted and she was still unhappy.

why did she return you is this, why did my 12 year old sister end up coming back home after only a few hours?

I tell you this story for a very simple reason because throughout the story we clearly see that my sister was completely dependent on my parents for her survival and that was made manifest through her many rebellions. However I was in everyone of those stories too and was in the exact same situation as my sister. I might not have been the perfect Son but I think I was a really good one. I never ran away to start with, I always appreciated my parents working hard to provide for me, I never really threw temper tantrums and I never intentionally tried to hurt my parents. However despite all of my effort in being a good son made me any different from my sister. do you think in light of my angelic childhood I would of fared any better at the age of 5 than my sister? how about at the age of 12? To be honest several months ago i was also living at home with my sister and my parents. You see my efforts did not make me any closer to self-sufficiency.

As Christians I find that we typically fit into two categories, on one had we have discouraged Christianity, where we walk under the burdens of our sins, where we hide from God because we are ashamed that we are not worthy. We view

On the other extreme we see arrogant Christianity, where we are uncomfortable with the concept that all of

our works don’t make us any more loved than the person with no works.

On the other hand we also have a problem with arrogant Christianity, where we walk around like our sins don't exist

1. Discouraged Christianity views our relationship with God on a performance based level and thus we don’t think that God will keep loving us when we fall and mess up, his back is turned. Like the prodigal son, we first try and save ourselves by feeding pigs, rather than face the potential rejection of the father. But all of our poor performance doesn’t make him love you less. And if you were to come back to the father, he would run out to greet you and cover your shame, he would put the family ring on your hand, shoes on your feet and a royal robe on your back. God is not ashamed to call you son.

2.

Like the older brother here, we view our relationship on a performance based level and thus we expect to become more worthy or more lovable if we perform well. But nothing we ever do will make us deserving of God’s love and nothing we ever do will make us more worthy of His grace. We are all in the same boat. Both extremes are in the same

Either arrogant Christianity and discouraged

If you already have given God your life, I want to encourage in your journey never to fall into spiritual arrogance, where we start to believe we can get beyond relying only on Christ. Thus spiritual arrogance become spiritual ignorance because we don’t realise that there is nothing greater to move on to - we must always rely only on him alone.

I can imagine that she was hungry, she would have had no money, nowhere to go, no support from friends or family and she would have had no hope. Her parents were her source of worth, her source of value and her source of life, regardless if she was appreciative of it or not.

The problem in the garden of eden is simple, we chose to follow our own vain wi

Her parents were her source of worth, her source of value and her source of life, regardless if she was appreciative of it or not.

The same is the case in our spiritual lives. Without God we are nothing! Trying to live the Christian life in our own power is as silly as a 12 year old running away to live life in her own power. The inherent emptiness a child has without its parent, is the same emptiness a Christian has without Christ…. In ourselves, we are empty but in Christ is the fullness of life.

The problem is evident and the solution seems unattainable and it really is, and that's exactly why we need christ.

But then she turned 12 and I remember clearly when she got to the point when she finally decided in her mind that she would do it, she had decided to run away, for real this time. So she informed my parents that she wanted to leave and then she went to her room and she made a big deal about packing her bags…. I think she was waiting for someone to stop her and I was surprised as a child because my parents called her bluff and helped her pack and even stood by the door and waved her off. And that day my little sister left home…. At least she left for several hours… but once again she was home in time for dinner.

and I remember it clearly when she told my parents in front on that she gave was “they have more money than you do.”

Now when my sister was younger

When my sister was younger I remember, she used to be very unhappy, I never understood why because we had life pretty good as kids. As a Kid, we both got free rent, free food, free toys, free transport, free tuition and all while still retaining our freedom. However, as many kids do, she took these things for granted and she was still unhappy.

I remember, she used to be very unhappy, I never understood why because we had life pretty good as kids. As a Kid, we both got free rent, free food, free toys, free transport, free tuition and all while still retaining our freedom. However, as many kids do, she took these things for granted and she was still unhappy.

When my sister was younger I remember, she used to be very unhappy, I never understood why because we had life pretty good as kids. As a Kid, we both got free rent, free food, free toys, free transport, free tuition and all while still retaining our freedom. However, as many kids do, she took these things for granted and she was still unhappy.

I remember the days when she would get sick and tired of all these “terrible” things and decided that she wanted to run away, the first time she did this, she was 5 years old and while visiting a friend’s house she sat down on the ground and refused to leave when it was time to go home, she said that she wanted to run away and live with these guys; do you know why? Because they had more money than my parents did at the time. I don’t remember exactly what happened after that but let’s just say, she was home for dinner that night.

I can imagine that she was hungry, she would have had no money, nowhere to go, no support from friends or family and she would have had no hope. Her parents were her source of worth, her source of value and her source of life, regardless if she was appreciative of it or not.

The same is the case in our spiritual lives. Without God we are nothing! Trying to live the Christian life in our own power is as silly as a 12 year old running away to live life in her own power. The inherent emptiness a child has without its parent, is the same emptiness a Christian has without Christ…. In ourselves, we are empty but in Christ is the fullness of life.

Story of Marliese and the Christians reliance on Christ.

I can imagine that she was hungry, she would have had no money, nowhere to go, no support from friends or family and she would have had no hope. Her parents were her source of worth, her source of value and her source of life, regardless if she was appreciative of it or not.

Now the question I want to ask you is this, why did my 12 year old sister end up coming back home after only a few hours?

I can imagine that she was hungry, she would have had no money, nowhere to go, no support from friends or family and she would have had no hope. Her parents were her source of worth, her source of value and her source of life, regardless if she was appreciative of it or not.

The same is the case in our spiritual lives. Without God we are nothing! Trying to live the Christian life in our own power is as silly as a 12 year old running away to live life in her own power. The inherent emptiness a child has without its parent, is the same emptiness a Christian has without Christ…. In ourselves, we are empty but in Christ is the fullness of life.

Story of Marliese and the Christians reliance on Christ.

Always need to rely on Him and we don’t ever get past the point of needing Christ

Priority list

Undeserved love story

Our grace and love that we received is not based on our performance –

and that can be hard because we don’t like not having control and also because we can be discouraged. Either arrogant Christianity and discouraged Christianity

The story of the debotrs and our perception of our inherent value

Its not about our actions, its about our heart and intentions

The requirements of salvation

Armor of God

(The devils assault us in the things that belong to our souls, and labour to deface the heavenly image in our hearts. We must resolve by God's grace, not to yield to Satan. Resist him, and he will flee. If we give way, he will get ground. If we distrust either our cause, or our Leader, or our armour, we give him advantage) * need quote

Righteousness is a done word, not a doing word

Martin Luther

Eagle

Die to ourselves and our instincts

Faith alone, but not a faith that is alone??

Our righteousness is like rags

Intentions not just actions. About the heart

Marliese story - We are like a little child in this world

Because we have been separated from God

Leads to our death

God is unequally yoked with us. What is man that He is interested in us.

· Conclusion

Today we live in a world where we are surrounded by sin and we are filled by it. The effects of sin and the hopelessness of our situation is evident.

o

For example, In Australia nearly half of people will suffer from a mental illness in their lives. With over 10% suffering from depression every year. We hear a lot about slip slop slap but statistically an Australian is more likely to die from suicide than skin cancer with men accounting for 77% of the number. something is defiantly wrong and we all know it. Deep down in our hearts we know that mental illness, depression, suicide, pain and anxiety are not Gods designs for us. We know that there is a problem and we know we are not where we want to be.

Story of Marliese and the Christians reliance on Christ.

· Appeal

Our fall was absolutely comprehensive, it effects our actions, our relationships, our environment and even our very soul.

Always need to rely on Him and we don’t ever get past the point of needing Christ

Im going to leave religion for relationship

Link: I know that my portrayal of our situation is bleak but it’s the unfortunate reality. However, is this the reality that we want for ourselves? What do you want out of life? Where do you want to go? Let’s discuss that.

Priority list

Undeserved love story

If we remember the three aspects of sin from before, we have sin as a mistaken action, sin as relationally rebellious move and sin as something that twists us away from good, towards something evil.

Our grace and love that we received is not based on our performance – and that can be hard because we don’t like not having control and also because we can be discouraged. Either arrogant Christianity and discouraged Christianity

The only solution to solve the initial action is to go back in time, although it would be a convenient solution, it is not one offered to us. All we can do is own up to our shortcomings, and express regret. The action exists and can’t be taken back, although the consequences and the effects of what we have done can be dealt with.

The story of the debotrs and our perception of our inherent value

The broken relationship with God because of our actions is something that needs to be remedied. we turned away from God, we rebelled, we mocked Him, we sided with His enemy's and when He reached out to us in the form of His son, We killed him. As a people we tried to kill God. In order to remedy the relational situation, I believe there needs to be a dual approach.

Its not about our actions, its about our heart and intentions

Firstly we need to simply be upfront with God. This is seen in relationships in that you would prefer if your spouse would tell you what they had done wrong and why, than to have to find out through other means. The act of being honest and transparent helps heal relationships. Don’t make excuses, don't underplay the effects of your actions, but be completely honest and humble. if we want to repair our relationship with God, we need to at least be genuine with Him. maybe we can’t be perfect, but at least we can be is genuine. Just like people don't like having fake friends, I don't think God likes having fake Christians. That means if you’re not on good terms with him, then tell Him, if your struggling then tell Him. If you can’t be perfect, then at least be honest.

The requirements of salvation

The second part about remedying the relational impact sin had, is understanding Gods law in the context of why it was given and then stop actively breaking it and as a result breaking our relationship with God. We all have relational laws with each other and Gods law can be viewed like them. One of my favorite examples of this is when looking between a Husband and a Wife, they have rules ranging from the simple to the complex and then a bunch more I’m still trying to figure out. Don’t cheat on me is one rule, the reason for the rule is because it would destroy the relationship, the message cheating sends is that I value the other person more than I value our relationship.

Armor of God

another example is if your wife were to ask you to do something simple like taking off your muddy shoes before walking through the house because she just cleaned the floor, now if after hearing her plea you still decide to walk through the house with your dirty shoes, you are not simply telling her that you want to walk through the house, you are telling her that walking through the house is worth more to you than her and the effort she has put into cleaning it. In choosing to break that rule, you are expressing how little her efforts actually mean to you.

(The devils assault us in the things that belong to our souls, and labour to deface the heavenly image in our hearts. We must resolve by God's grace, not to yield to Satan. Resist him, and he will flee. If we give way, he will get ground. If we distrust either our cause, or our Leader, or our armour, we give him advantage) * need quote

The same perspective works with Gods law, in order to return to relationship with God we need to stop actively breaking the relationship. We need to actually value God more than the things that get in the way.

Righteousness is a done word, not a doing word

Viewing God’s laws this way is important because Gods rules are never arbitrary, they are either for the sake of our relationship, the sake of what’s best for us or the sake of His other creations.

Martin Luther

However beyond simply doing the things that God desires, we need to look at our heart. Imagine if I was the perfect husband to my wife but in my heart, I hated her, would you say that we had a good marriage? You see taking off your muddy shoes while muttering under your breath does not add to the relationship and not cheating, but constantly wishing that you had the opportunity also does not add to the relationship.

Eagle

To rectify our relational issues, it takes a pure heart of love that acts in love. But how can we act with a pure heart of love if our very hearts have become twisted? This leads me to solution for the twisting effect sin has on our being.

Die to ourselves and our instincts

I heard a saying in the last week that got me thinking about what it would look like if we only addressed the relational side without the addressing the corrupting nature of sin. The saying goes like, “A fish and a bird may fall in love, but where would they live?” you see a bird cannot live in the depths of the ocean and the fish can’t live in the heights of the sky. Likewise, evil cannot dwell with good and man can not dwell with God. The fish can’t simply grow wings to join the bird because then it would die without the water, and the bird can’t just grow fins because then it would drown. You see the very nature of the fish and the bird must completely change in order for them to have a relationship. You can’t simply add something good to something bad, we need to change the basis of our nature.

Faith alone, but not a faith that is alone??

Jesus explains it has not putting old wine in a new wineskin but I don't know much about wine and wineskins, so I will explain it a way that makes more sense to me; When giving an organ transplant, we first test for the compatibility of the patient and the reason for this is because if the transplant is not compatible then the patients body will reject the transplant. Good and evil are incompatible and as such salvation requires more than transplanting a single organ or it would be rejected, it takes a complete renewal, a transplant of our entire being. The bible refers to this as dying to ourselves and being reborn in Christ. the change that occurs at conversion has to be complete.

Our righteousness is like rags

Link: seems like a talk task, not only are we to have relationship with God, but in order to have relationship with God we need to change every aspect of our being. How do we do it?

Intentions not just actions. About the heart

Marliese story - We are like a little child in this world

The problem that I have described and the solutions I have suggested are in my opinion beyond us. We can’t get where we want to go from where we are. We are completely dependent on God for any hope we have to remedy our situation.

Because we have been separated from God

To illustrate our dependence Let me tell you a story about my little sister. one thing to know about her, is that she can sometimes be a bit of a drama queen. Maybe it was because all the drama that she started, but I remember that she was very unhappy growing up. Even as a kid i struggled to understand how she could be so very unhappy, I mean we both had everything we ever needed, although not always what we wanted. I remember the first time that my sister tried to run away, she was only 5 years the first time that she tried to run away. We had just finished having a board game night where we had all had fun, but when it came time to leave my sister refused and stated that she wanted to run away from home and live with her friend and I remember it clearly when she told my parents in front of our family friends that she gave was “they have more money than you do.” I don't remember much past that besides that my parents were quite hurt and that my sister was home in time for dinner.

Leads to our death

The next time that she tried to run away from home was at the age of 12 but this time she actually stuck to her decision. She decided that she had enough and could do better on her own, so she promptly informed my parents of her decision to leave and then she stormed off to her room. She made a big deal about packing her bags and i kind of got the feeling like she was waiting for someone to stop her, but my parents surprised both me and her when they called her bluff and helped her pack her bags. They helped her carry her bags to the door and then waved her off as she slowly “ran away from home.” That day my little sister left home, and I didn't see her until… well I didn't see her until it was time for dinner. You see she had only managed to leave home for several hours.

And the last time my sister left home I think she was 19 and this time she managed to stay away from home for nearly a year before coming back home to live, where she remains till this day.

Why is salvation important because we don’t have Christ

Now the question I want you to contemplate is why did my sisters story end each time with her returning home?

What is salvation, it is Christ

Well the first time I imagine she eventually realized that our well-off family friends didn't necessarily want her to stay with them. When she was older I think she came back because she figured out that she actually had nowhere to go, no food to eat, no money, no transport and no hope for her situation for improving, save for going home.

And how do we achieve salvation? Through Christ!

Now the last time she left home she came back because she realized how much my parents actually gave her. She was given free accommodation, free food, a free car, free transportation costs, free tuition and she got all of this without having to do anything to receive it. My sister told me that the biggest eye opener came within the first week of renting her own place, the moment she realized that she actually had to buy toilet paper if she wanted to use it and it didn't just magically appear.

Christ is the only thing needed for salvation.

You see regardless of how appreciative of my parents she was, the parents were her source of value and her source of life. The same applies to us spiritually, Without Christ we are nothing. Trying to live the Christian life in our own power is as silly as a 12 year old running away to live life in her own power. The inherent emptiness a child has without his or her parent, is the same inherent emptiness a Christian has without Christ…. In ourselves, we are empty but in Christ is the fullness of life.

I tell you this story for a very simple reason because throughout the story we clearly see that my sister was completely dependent on my parents for her survival and that was made manifest through her many rebellions. However, I was in every one of those stories too and was in the exact same situation as my sister. I might not have been the perfect son, but I think I was a good one. I never ran away to start with, I always appreciated my parents working hard to provide for me, I never really threw temper tantrums and I never intentionally tried to hurt my parents. However, despite all of my effort in being a good son, it did not make my situation any different from my sister. do you think in light of my angelic childhood I would of fared any better on my own at the age of 5 than my sister? how about at the age of 12? To be honest several months ago I was also living at home with my sister and my parents. You see my efforts did not make me any closer to self-sufficiency.

Don’t trust in ourselves

As Christians I find that we typically fit into two categories, on one hand we have discouraged Christianity, where we walk under the burdens of our sins, where we hide from God because we are ashamed that we are not worthy. We view our relationship with God on a performance basis and we know we are failing. We either try and fix ourselves before coming to God or we avoid God altogether because we know we can’t figure out how to solve our issues.

On the other extreme we see arrogant Christianity, where we have convinced ourselves that we have become “good enough” to earn our salvation and that we are no longer sinful and do not struggle. These people tend to also view their relationship with God based on performance, but they think that they don’t need help because they can get salvation either through their own works or their own faith. Asserting that you have no sin and no need for Christ is dangerous ground, as the bible says that he that claims he is without sin, is a liar and God’s word is not in him. That’s two problems, first he is committing the sin of being a liar and even worse he is not in a genuine relationship with God.

When I say this, I realize that at some point we all fit into these, I have fitted in both in my Christian journey. Sometimes going back and forth like a pendulum swing. The point I’m trying to make in bringing this up is that both discouraged and arrogant Christianity both have the same fault, they lack a reliance on Christ. Regardless of how you answered the first question, about where you are in your journey, Christ can bring you to the place where we can reenter relationship with God. Christ is the only one that can restore us to the original order. The problem is evident, and the solution is unattainable and that's exactly why we need Christ.

It’s not about you battling against your sinful nature and it’s not about you cleaning yourself up in order to enter relationship with God, because throughout the bible we see that it is God that will give us a new heart and it is God that cleans us up and God that restores us back into relationship. God does this great work in us. All we can do is allow Him to do it or at least, not impede the process.

Link: So to summarize my sermon,

where do we find ourselves? Since the fall we have found ourselves struggling with the loss of relationship with God and a twisting of our hearts towards evil. The world is not where we would like it. For me I would contend that the problem is a lack of Jesus in this world.

Where would we like to be? The end goal is to quite simply restore our relationship with God. This involves a complete renewal of our twisted hearts and a reconciliation with God.

And finally, how do we get from where we are to our destination? We rely fully on Christ. Because we cant fix our sinful nature and reach perfection, we need to rely fully on Jesus to do the work of restoring relationship for us through His work on our hearts. The key here though is to remember to rely on Jesus and not ourselves.

This is the plan that I developed by approaching the problem through that formula, I would encourage each of you to do the same because remember if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Its important to honestly think about these things, where you are, where you want to go and how to get there.

Song: what a friend we have in jesus.

If there is anyone that feels the Holy Spirit’s conviction today, remember although I would always encourage the kids on my hikes to plan, there also comes a time to hike. If God is convicting you of anything, don’t ignore it, rather do it. Don’t do it for God, do it with God.

Where are we in this world? Without Christ!

What is the end goal? To be with Christ!

Finally, how will we get there? Through Christ!

As we pray I encourage you to pray silently and talk to talk honestly and genuinely to Jesus about your relationship.

Salvation

Introduction

Introduction

Where are we?

Why is salvation important? (problem)

Where are we?

What does it meant to be saved? (solution)

Where do we want to go?

How do we get there?

How is salvation achieved? (hope)

Where do we want to go?

How do we get there?

Conclusion

Appeal

Conclusion

Appeal