Rooted in the Love of Christ-Sunday Sermon Follow Up.

I think many pastors experience a moment during the week where they say to themselves, “I wish I had remembered to say that.”  This last week I preached out of John 15, and I talked about how we must remain in the vine in order to bear the fruit of Christ.  There are a whole lot of churchy words in there but the bottom line is this:  If we are rooted in the love of Christ our lives will resemble Him more and more. This sounds simple enough.  Love Christ and we will bear fruit.  The questions that come to mind for me immediately are; how do I do that, how does that work?  The answer is contained in John, chapters 14 and 15.

The word "abide" is mentioned 15 times in the first 11 verses, and has the same Greek root as the word "dwell" in chapter 14.  This is important because Jesus is telling the disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit and about their place in heaven.  Jesus tells us in Chapter 15 that we are to abide in Him.  I have always focused on this verse and tried my hardest to remain in Him.  It dawned on me this week that Jesus is talking about the Holy Spirit remaining in us in John 15.  

Why is this important.  As we come to Christ, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our soul.  We have often used the term "asking Jesus into our heart."  What we are doing is asking the God who created the world to take up residence in the part of us that thinks, feels, reason, remembers, as well as in our eternal spirits.  Jesus is saying that as we are rooted in Him, He is dwelling within us.  The Holy Spirit is a permanent resident in our minds and souls and spirits.  

This is great news!!!!!  This is the answer to how we abide in Christ.  This is how we bear fruit in our lives.  We love the God who dwells with us everyday with all our heart, mind and soul.  For the last few weeks we have been talking how the law kills and condemns.  The law shows us where we sin but it cannot show us how to love.  Only being rooted in the love of our Father does that.  Whatever you are dealing with today, the answer is to abide in the love of the Father.  He is going to do the cleaning, and the healing.  Our part is to love Him.  

Below I have linked the video I showed Sunday to explain how the crucifixion has yanked us out of the soil we are rooted in and grafted us into the love of the father.  It is also a great illustration of grace because the gift of this transplant is available to all who would receive it, regardless of their past.

Guest post-Pastor Jeff. Does Sin Separate Us from God?

Does sin separate us from God?   Do you believe that your actions as a believer can move you closer or further from God?  Do you believe, that as a believer, you can lose your relationship with the Gracious almighty?  I believe these questions are a genuine concern for most Christ followers. This last Sunday I set out to answer these questions.  I started by overcoming some of the more obvious misnomers.   1. Satan is not the powerful one. He can not make you do things against   your will.  2. Jesus is not afraid of evil.  3. Jesus achieved clear and total victory on the cross. 4. We are made up of three parts.          Flesh -- A temporary container for the soul.        
Soul  -- Our individual identity. There is no other like it anywhere in  all of creation.        
Spirit -- The root system for the soul.

Until we are in relationship with God our spiritual nutrition comes from the world.   Once we are in relationship with the Creator, because of our faith in His gracious sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ, our souls are eternally forgiven and we are no longer under the law of condemnation.  Romans 8:1 is not a conditional statement.  It does not say "there is now, therefore, no condemnation for those who can up hold the law -- or at least some of it."

It clearly states: " There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.   WOW!  I could stop here if it weren't for verses like Galatians 5:19-21(esv) 19Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”    And especially notice that last phrase-- "those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God."  In this verse and others like it "works of the flesh", "committing sin", and "to practice sin" all have something in common.  Agreement with sin. These are actions that require our devotion, attention, and wanted participation, that is, when we work, commit, or practice something it is with intention and agreement.  

What if we, as believers, do not agree and sin.  What if the baggage from yesterday (addiction) is inner-woven with our new self?  What if the old self is hanging on for dear life, in spite of our commitment to God, acceptance of Christ and, devotion to His word.  What if we have the proverbial thorn in our side?  Life can seemingly feel hopeless, while all the while we yearn for God and we seek God and His freedom in grace?

Robertson, in my favorite commentary Word Pictures of the New Testament, differentiates between the word used here in Galatians: Prassō (practice) - a verb for habitual practice,  opposed to the word (poieō) - for occasional doing.  In other words, the one who is practicing, working at, or committed (intention and agreement) to such things will be found guilty and will not enter the Kingdom of God.  While at the same time another with the same proclivity toward, or propensity for, such things accepts God’s grace through Jesus Christ and is found innocent and free to enter into Gods presence.   Does this graciousness of God mean we can just keep on sinning, NO!!! says Paul in Romans.  It does however mean that we are free from the worry of the condemnation that our sin deserves.  This freedom from worry allows our focus to be on God.  With our focus on God, instead of our sins, healing and maturity begin to take place.  

Look at it this way.  When a toddler begins to walk, what happens? She falls.  What do we do? Beat them and tell them not to try again until they can walk without falling?  Ridiculous!  No.  We are there waiting with baited breath for the moment she walks without  falling.  We run to their aide and assist her ever so gently and encourage her next step.  The same goes when she is learning to run, and then jump, and then gymnastics, and so on and so on.

 Too many God-loving, Jesus-saved people spend their entire lives crawling, because they are beaten down by the times they have supposedly failed God, when all the while, God is crying out, ”come boldly to My throne!  I, your God, your Creator, your Savior has paid it all!” If they only could understand that when they are in relationship with God, He is there, waiting patiently in love and eager for us to walk, run, and even do spiritual back flips.  No matter how many times we fall, He is there picking us up and encouraging us to take the next step.  How often we sin is not the issue.  What is in our hearts is the issue.   Romans 8:38-39 (esv) 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.   God's speed Jeff

Guest Post: Pastor Paul~Important follow up from Sunday

Since last Sunday's sermon related to the Law no longer being in effect since grace has come, I feel it is important to make some follow-up comments to help clarify the natural confusion that inevitably occurs when old long-standing beliefs are challenged.  In the message Sunday, I suggested that mixing the law and grace into some form of "hybrid" gospel defeats grace.  Religion has led many of us to believe that it is grace that saves us, but it is the law that keeps us.  We may not say we believe that statement, but we live like that is the case.

I mainly want to address what we mean when we say that the law has been made of no effect, or holds no sway over the life of a Christian.  Most of us consider that a false statement, but one cannot read the Book of Galatians without arriving at that very conclusion.  So then, are we Christians supposed to disregard the law altogether?  Here again, the scripture is clear that the answer to that question is no.  Take the Ten Commandments for example:  The Ten Commandments were the origin of the law that was later expanded into countless laws.  Because of the finished work of Christ on the cross, breaking the Ten Commandments can no longer condemn us.  But that does not negate the life principles that the Ten Commandments lay down.  If you look at them carefully, you note that the first four of the commandments relate to our relationship with God, while the last six relate to our relationship with each other as human beings.  

The very existence of a civilized society hinges on good citizens keeping these Laws-- "do not commit murder," "do not steal," do not commit adultery," "do not lie," "do not covet."  If these life principles went away, so would the entire social order. So what then do we mean when we say the law has been set aside and rendered ineffective?  We are talking about the power the law has to condemn us when we break it.  Jesus rendered the law powerless to condemn us by taking our sin upon Himself.  But this does not mean that we should ignore what the law teaches us about living in ways that please God. 

Consider the parent who says to the child, "don't do that."  The child responds, "Why not?"  The parent answers, "because I said so."  God never says through the law, "do this because I said so."  When God instructs us in daily living, He does so not to lord Himself over us (even though He is Lord!).  Remember that the law is a "tutor."  It teaches us both the benefits of following it and the consequences that befall us when we don't.  But when we break it, as we all do, the law can no longer destroy us, and that makes all the difference in the world about our attitude as we approach life.

What our staff is seeking to accomplish in this series of team-teaching is to correct the defeat that we see people living under, much of which has been brought on by an oppression we see in people's lives who are living under condemnation when Christ died to set us free.  If you have questions, please contact any of our pastors. We will be happy to meet with you and encourage you in any way.