Know God, and Make Him Known

Ephesians 2:1-11

ME- My testimony. I was saved at 9. Grew up in Conway. Went CCS. Played on the very first tackle football team. YUH! Went to CBC. Met Meagan. Worked as Youth pastor at Crosspoint in Greenbrier. Married. Fort Worth seminary. Buna. Conroe.

I love students. I have never seen being a student Pastor as a stepping stone. Recently I have had such a passion to see teens follow the Lord Jesus that I started the Doctoral program in Family Ministry. I had no idea what I was getting in to. My passion is for you and for your families to Know God, and make Him known. I want nothing more than to see Christ as the center of our home. So my studies and writings are leaning in the direction of equipping the parent to be a disciple maker in the home.

Going forward for me as youth pastor, I see my calling to equip parents, leaders, and students to know God and make Him known. I want to be disciples(followers) of Christ that will replicate themselves.

Application/ Illustration

Guys I want you to know that we desperately need Jesus. For me I knew who Jesus was. I accepted Him as my savior young. Yet no one ever stopped and showed me who God was in this idea of a relationship. I knew to read the word… but the idea that I could have a relationship was never explained. At Conway Christian we played in a bball tourney in Joplin, MI. During this time the basketball coach at the time asked me about my relationship with the Lord. I wasn't sure what to say and he showed me what it looked like. LIGHTBULBS went off. From then on I became passionate for others to get to know God in an on going relationship.

Guys I had friends at Conway Christian that were as lost as can be.

WE:

GOD- Ephesians 2:1-10

Point 1 Everyone is in need of Jesus vv. 1-3

Think about the time when you realized your need for Christ.

Point 2 : God loves us, knowing who we are. vv 4-6

What if I were to place all my sins on the screen behind me for you to see.

Verse 4 God loves you

BUT GOD: Oh SNAP!!! BUT God! In His rich mercy loves us!

When we were dead in our sin… HE loves us!

Point 3 God’s grace is overwhelming vv 5-10

YOU;WE- As we have spent the week in Utah the scripture in Ephesians 2:1-10 has hit home with me. Everyone that has life has sinned against God. We ALL need Jesus. We deserve to be in eternal torment, and then we get to verse 3. BUT GOD! That’s shouting words! Amen? But God! In His rich mercy loves us when we are dead in our sins, our great God through Jesus death on the cross and defeat of the grave has overcome the sin that we could not. Jesus did not have to die because he had no sin. Yet because God loves us He provided a way for salvation. An eternal and expectant Hope in the Lord Jesus.

Friend our very purpose here on earth is to know God, and make Him known. One thing that is different about the one true God is that he desires to know us, and for us to know Him. Simply called an authentic relationship. You do not get that in any other religion or faith. Let’s go further! Ephesians 2:8-10 says that we don’t even need to work for our salvation. If we did we could boast in what “we” did, and not what God did. We simply place our faith in God, and repent of our sin. We turn from the old, and we commit to the Lord Jesus. It’s by faith, and not by works!

All that to say, friends God desires you. He loves you more than anything you could describe in human words. He knows your pain, He knows your struggle. God even knows your deepest regrets. Even so... But God! Loves you and desires you! Jesus literally died for you!

Last night I was literally brought to tears having an insane opportunity to eat dinner with a family in their home. They were one of the nicest families I have ever met, yet they do not know Christ as their personal savior. Then at the end of the night we sat with them and sang a few hymns about Christ and His sacrifice for US. About what He did for us on the Cross.

Because He lives! I can face tomorrow! Because He lives I can...

Then we circled up and held hands, and prayed over these people. I’m still in awe, and will always be in awe of Jesus. As I write this today, I pray that it encourages us that we Know God, and now we make Him known!

Isn’t Christ worth it!?

When was the last time that you cried over the lost?

Family of mormons during dinner fully believing that they knew the same Jesus, but they do not.

During a lunch I had one of the days… our Missionary Seth Tarver said “If you really commit to praying for the lost and for opportunity to share Christ with the lost, God WILL provide you opportunity.