What is my "right now" scripture?

The Gospel is Central - What is my “right now” scripture?

Happy Valentine’s Day! Valentine’s Day is a day to show love to someone. If you are a husband. It starts with your wife. Whatever you do, don’t be a Jerry! (1:38[i]) I agree. Make those you love, feel special. Go out of your way to show love to your spouse, your kids, your friends, and especially to anyone who might be struggling. This is a Blessing Bag. Aubre Rice prepared 100 Blessing Bags, 50 for each service. If you want to make your own Blessing Bag, the contents are located on our You Version App. If you know of someone who is lonely, sad, - just feels hopeless, give them this bag. Who knows what one small act of kindness might do for them? The purpose of Valentine’s Day is to love and be loved, but no one loves you as much as God does.

Author Brennan Manning told a story about Edward Farrell, a priest from Detroit. Ed went on a two-week summer vacation to Ireland to visit relatives. His one living uncle was about to celebrate his 80th birthday. On that day, Ed and his uncle got up early. It was before dawn. They took a walk along the shores of Lake Killarney and stopped to watch the sunrise. They stood side by side for a full twenty minutes and then resumed walking. Ed glanced at his uncle and saw that his face had broken into a broad smile. Ed said, “Uncle Seamus(Shay-mus) , you look very happy.” “I am.” Ed asked, “How come?” And his uncle replied, because “The Father of Jesus is very fond of me?”[ii]

Think about that. Say that. The father of Jesus is very fond of me. Do you believe that? Deep down inside your body do you believe that God is fond of you? I don’t know your answer, but I know mine. I can stand here basking in the reality that God is very fond of me. Not because of what I’ve done, but because of what Jesus did. What Jesus did on the cross. God is so fond of you that he gave up his son for you. That’s really good news. This is week #3 of a seven-week series called “Become Like Jesus.” We are studying seven cultural values at Westerville Christian. Cultural Value #3 is the Gospel is Central. Central means important. Let’s ask & answer five questions concerning the word – GOSPEL! Here’s Question #1: What does the word Gospel mean? Gospel means “good news”. The word Gospel is defined as “the joyous good news of salvation found in Jesus Christ.”[iii]

Did you know that the Gospel is found in every book of the Bible? I’ll provide an example. GENESIS. The good news of Genesis promises that a descendant of Abraham will one day come and when he does, he will bless all nations. That descendant was Jesus. Jesus came nearly 2000 years ago. There are four books in the New Testament called the Gospels. Four men, Matthew, Mark, Luke & John, were inspired to write four accounts of Jesus, but all four create one gospel – the good news of salvation found in Jesus Christ. There’s all types of “good news”, but the gospel is the greatest “good news” of all.

Here’s Question #2: Was the Gospel meant for only a few people? Open your Bibles or Smartphones to the book of Acts. I want us to read from Acts 15:1. Luke wrote down the birth and the growth of the church. In Acts 15 the HS uses both Peter and Paul to change the world. This is Acts 15:1. (Read 1-5) These Pharisees, these religious leaders are demanding that non-Jewish adult men be circumcised. Good luck with that. Baptism seems pretty easy now😊 Go to verse 6. (Read 6&7)

At one time the Gospel was only for Jewish believers, but that was never the ultimate goal. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. Peter presented the good news of Jesus to a Gentile man named Cornelius in Acts 10. This is Acts 10:39. (Read 39-43) Peter, a Jewish Apostle, just answered our question. The Gospel is meant for everyone, anyone – male, female, black, white, Jew or Gentile because all of us have sinned.

That leads us to Question #3 about the Gospel. #3: Why is the Gospel so important? The Gospel enables us to overcome our sin. Jesus said this about himself in Luke 4:18. (Read verse 18) Who is oppressing us? Satan. What’s oppressing us? Our sin! Let’s be real. We are not bad people trying to be good. We are dead people made alive. The Gospel is the good news. It’s about forgiveness for a fallen people. It’s about life to the fullest through Jesus doing what we could never do. It’s about God’s rescue mission and His gracious gift.

God sent Jesus to rescue us from our sin. I was listening to a Bible Reading Plan from author David Bowden who was talking about the Gospel. David has a website called spokengospel.com. What makes the Gospel important is that it enables us to overcome sin through Jesus Christ. Look at the sequence of these five words.

Unbelief – Lack – Desire – Temptation – Sin

Let’s go backwards starting with sin. Sin equals lawlessness. We live like there are no laws. Sin equals selfishness. We live like we’re the only person on this planet. We all sin, but why? Most time we blame temptation. It’s all temptations fault. But temptation is not a sin. Temptation is the lure from Satan or someone being used by Satan to pull us away from God. You can’t be tempted to do something you don’t actually want. What creates the temptation? It’s DESIRE! James said this in James 1:14: but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Desire. This person looks good so we lust. This person has more than we do so we covet what they have. If I walk past the alcohol section at Kroger or Meijer I am not tempted because I have no desire for alcohol. If I walk into Best Buy I’m tempted up and down every aisle because I desire the latest technology. If you hand me a bowl of broccoli I’ll just sadly stare back at you but if you smother it with melted cheese I desire to have it. Desire is what leads us to be tempted and temptation leads us to sin. But where does desire come from? LACK! We think we lack something. I’m not as smart as she is or clever as he is and I desire to be both smart & clever. So now I’m tempted to hate these smart/clever people and if I hate them I just sinned. This is what Satan did to Adam & Eve. He convinced them that God lacked what they needed. That God couldn’t provide for them. So they stopped believing God and believed Satan instead.

That leads us to the beginning. Unbelief is the true source of sin. We sin because we do not believe that God can provide. Jesus lacks what we need. We have these desires that he can’t fulfill so we are tempted to no longer trust God which is sin.

The Gospel is important because we all are guilty of sin. But if you believe in Jesus and receive the forgiveness of your sins you lack nothing. If Jesus becomes your greatest desire you can push temptation aside and experience Holy Spirit driven power to overcome sin in your life.

But that’s difficult because we are easily deceived. Go back to Acts 15:7. (Read 7-9) Our hearts need to be continually purified by faith. Why? Did you catch the significance of verse 8? Acts 15:8. God, who knows the heart…

Valentine’s Day is all about hearts. Chocolate hearts, candy hearts and human hearts. It’s true that the human heart is an organ that serves as a pump to circulate blood throughout our bodies, but the Bible tells us the heart is so much more. Shane Pruitt wrote a book called, 9 Common Lies Christians Believe. He said this about the heart. “The words for heart in Hebrew and Greek are used over 300 times throughout the Bible. The word “kardia” in the New Testament carries with it the meaning and belief that the heart is the hub of our emotions, our desire producer and the center of our being. Plain and simple, our heart represents the center of our feelings, desires and emotions.”[iv]

And many times our feelings, desires and emotions can mislead us. A car thief in Oregon evidently has a soft spot for children. After he stole an unlocked car, he noticed a small child in the backseat. He promptly turned around, took the child back to the mother, lectured her about the dangers of leaving a child inside the car, then drove off in her car.[v] His heart told him it was not okay to take a child. But his heart also told him it was okay to steal a car.

Our hearts are easily deceived. Jeremiah said this. Jeremiah 17:9: The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Jesus said this in Mark 7:21. (Read 21-23) So be careful if someone gives you this advice, “Just follow your heart.” That advice usually leads to selfishness. I’m going to have an affair. I’m going to skip town with embezzled money.

Here’s a fourth question about the Gospel. How do you purify your heart by faith? To purify is to filter. What filter are you using to fight off the bad desires often fueled by the bad news of the world. Pandemic division. Political deception. Media bias. Worldwide injustice. What is your source of good news? It can’t be the Dispatch, CNN or social media. May I suggest the Word of God? We say the Gospel is Central, that the words of Jesus are important. How would we know? Ask our 5th and final question. What is my “right now” Scripture?

On January 3rd, I challenged us all to get near God. One of the best ways to get near God is to consistently read His word. We don’t read the Bible to get information. We read the Bible to know God. Who is he and what’s he like? We read the Bible to know Jesus. How did he live? What did he say? What did he do? His word shows us how we can be saved and how we can become more like Him. My desire is to read a chapter or two every day. When you read always look for your “right now” scripture. It’s God speaking to you right now from his word.

Last week Ben Thompson spoke from Luke 11 & Matthew 6. Here are Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:9. (Read 9-10). Verse 10 became my right now scripture. All last Sunday I kept thinking, I want what’s in heaven to be on this earth.

Recently I read all of Proverbs. When I came to Proverbs chapter 4 these verses caught my attention. (Read verses 20-23) On that day Proverbs 4:23 became my “right now” scripture. Say this verse with me. Proverbs 4:23: Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. All day long I kept thinking, guard your heart, Greg. Be careful with what you are letting in. Don’t be consumed with negative, fearful thoughts.

Today, we read from Acts 15. This is Acts 15: 8-11. I am encouraging you to make verse 11 your right now scripture. Acts 15:11: …it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved… The good news of the Gospel is that the grace of Jesus saves us. I pray that you have received God’s grace. Just like a gift. And if you’ve received it, give it to someone else. This is how we become like Jesus – we receive and then we give. Do you remember Uncle Shay-mus? He’s standing on the beach and the sun is shining on his face. Ed said, “Uncle, you look very happy.” “I am.” “How come?” Because “The Father of Jesus is very fond of me.”[vi] Not because of what he did, but because of what Jesus did for him. Do you know in your heart – that the Father of Jesus is very fond of you? If you read the Word of God, he’ll tell you that over and over again. Close in prayer.

[i] https://skitguys.com/videos/dont-be-a-jerry?

[ii] Shane Pruitt, 9 Common Lies Christians Believe, 165-166

[iii] Logos Bible Software, Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Gospel

[iv] Shane Pruitt, 9 Common Lies Christians Believe, 102

[v] https://www.christianparenting.org/articles/how-a-conscientious-thief-reminded-me-of-the-godly-legacy-i-long-to-leave

[vi] Shane Pruitt, 9 Common Lies Christians Believe, 165-166