Patience and Endurance | A Sermon from James 5:7-12

Introduction
This 12^th message in a sermon series on the Epistle of James is about patience and endurance.  I suspect we’ve all had to practice patience at some point in our lives.  And I’m sure we’ve all had to endure something.  (Some of you are probably thinking every Sunday you have to listen to one of my sermons is a act of patience and endurance.)

James shares his wisdom about patience and endurance by introducing two ideas—one very earthly and practical and the other heavenly and spiritual.  The heavenly/spiritual one is about Jesus second coming.  The earthly/practical one is an illustration of a farmer.  Listen to the Word of God in James.

James 5:7-8
⁷ Dear brothers and sisters, be patient as you wait for the Lord’s return. Consider the farmers who patiently wait for the rains in the fall and in the spring. They eagerly look for the valuable harvest to ripen. ⁸ You, too, must be patient. Take courage, for the coming of the Lord is near.

Jesus and the Farmer
One of the foundational teachings of the Christian Church is that Christ will return again.  The first time He came, Jesus was born in a manger as a helpless infant baby.  The second time He comes, He will come as a conquering King.  Here is one thing I can guarantee you:  Jesus will come back in your lifetime.  Does that seem too bold a claim?  Either Jesus will come back for us all, all at once or He will come for you individually when you draw your last breath.  Either way, you will see Him in your lifetime.

James reminds us.  And he says, be patient while you wait.  Farmers understand patience.  They see patience for what it really is.  Good farmers are not lazy.  They are some of the hardest workers you will ever find.  And yet, a good farmer realizes there are some things they can control and some things they absolutely cannot control.  A farmer decides what seeds to plant.  That’s within their control. 

They can control how they prepare the soil.  They can control the fertilizer they put down.  They decide how long to let the crop grow and how and when to harvest it.  But there are many things they cannot control.  A farmer cannot control the rain.  And as much as farming has become a science, there is still something very mysterious about it.  The farmer sees—perhaps more than anyone else—there is a Higher Power at work beyond themselves controlling how their fields grow.  And so a farmer learns to be patient.  They know when it is time to work, you work hard and you work smart.  And when it is time to wait, you are patient and you wait.  And waiting is not lazy, it often means preparing so you are ready to work when the harvest comes.

And a good farmer demonstrates great faith.  They trust that the harvest will come.  Otherwise, why would they bother with all the hard work of planting and tending their fields?

The Word of God says:  Jesus is coming.  You will see Him in your lifetime.  Either He will come for us all at once or He will come for you personally when you take your final breath.  James says, “Be patient.”  It doesn’t mean, “Be lazy.”  There are things we must do.  Like a famer tending his fields, you need to tend the business of your life.  But be wise.  Tend the things that matter—the things that lead to a fruitful harvest in your life.

And don’t be discouraged by the troubles you must endure.  Christ will come and He will make everything that is wrong right again.  On the final day, His Kingdom will come on earth and His will will be done here too.  Remember, James wrote these words to Christians who had be chased out of their homes, run out of town because they believed and proclaimed Jesus was the Lord and Messiah.
Some of them had lost everything—their homes, their jobs, their businesses.  Some had even lost loved one who had been jailed or murdered.  But the Word of God to them is the same as it is to us: Be patient. Trust the Lord. Jesus is coming.

And James goes on to say:

James 5:9
⁹ Don’t grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look—the Judge is standing at the door!

In our patience, we remember, Jesus is watching.  So we don’t just grit and bear it.  No, we live with Joy.  In the midst of trials and suffering, we know that Jesus has already won!  We live lives of love and joy.  We can sing and celebrate!  We can be like the disciples who, one month after seeing their  Lord Jesus brutally executed and buried in a borrowed tomb, boldly preached His ressurection in the Temple courtyard, right in front of the ones who ordered Christ’s crucifixion.  And their joy and excitement was so authentic that hundreds and thousands believed their message.

Are you being joyful in your patient endurance?  I want you to hear me today (whatever you are facing):  God is doing something in your life.  Your waiting is not in vain.  The fact that you are waiting means God is doing something.  And if you are puzzled because your waiting makes no sense, then maybe it confirms even more the fact that your waiting will end with a tremendous, miraculous moving of God.  So don’t lose heart.  And don’t grumble.  Be patient.  Rest in the joy of the Lord.  Celebrate His goodness in anticipation of what He will reveal to you.

James 5:10-12
¹⁰ For examples of patience in suffering, dear brothers and sisters, look at the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy.

Jeremiah Being Thrown Into a Well
James’ words here remind us that we are not alone when we must wait or suffer or endure.  For the prophets of the Bible who came before us also suffered.  They were righteous, faithful people.  But they were rejected by the world and suffered.
Jeremiah was known as the weeping prophet.  For not only did his own people throw him into a well simply for saying the Truth God told him to speak, he also had to endure watching his own people conquered by the Babylonians and dragged away into exile.

So if you are suffering, don’t jump to the conclusion that God is angry at you.  If you are living the way God wants you to live, be encouraged.  Sometimes God’s people suffer.  But God will make it all right one day.  So trust in Him.  Trust.  In. Him.  And be patient.

James 5:12
¹² But most of all, my brothers and sisters, never take an oath, by heaven or earth or anything else. Just say a simple yes or no, so that you will not sin and be condemned.

These words of James echo Jesus’ words
(and remember, Jesus was James’ brother who grew up in his same household).
Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:34, 39), “Do not make any vows!”  “Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’ Anything beyond this is from the evil one.

I could preach a whole sermon just on this.  But for today, let me just keep it simple so we can finish up.
The point is we need to live our lives with authenticity and integrity so our word is our bond.  What’s the point in saying things like:  “I swear to God” or “I swear on my mother’s grave.”  Why should we need these useless expressions to prove we’re speaking the truth?  If you live a life of integrity, people who know you they can trust you.  And they will see your life and they will trust your word.  So live with integrity and let your yes be yes and your no be no. 

Conclusion
As we close, I want to invite you to reflect on God’s word to you today.  What has God said to you in this Scripture and this message?  Take a moment to consider how you can apply this teaching on patience and endurance in your own life.  Is there a situation where you need to trust God more, to wait patiently, or to act with faith like the farmer tending his fields?

Perhaps you feel called to let go of something you can't control, or to work diligently in the areas where you can make a difference.  Maybe you need to find joy in the waiting, trusting that God is at work even when you cannot see it.

As we bow our heads and pray, I encourage you to respond to what God has spoken to you today.  Whether it’s a renewed commitment to trust Him, an action step you need to take, or a prayer for strength in your current situation, lift it up to the Lord.

Serenity Prayer
God, grant us the serenity to accept the things that we cannot change,
the courage to change the things that we can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Amen.

Submit to God, Flee from the Devil | A Sermon from James 4:1-10

Introduction
We’ve been working our way through the Epistle of James.  Let me review a few important points to remember about this letter.

James is Jesus’ biological half-brother; Mary was mother to both James and Jesus.

James wrote his letter to people who were already Christians, who had been driven out of Jerusalem and scattered abroad by persecution. These were committed Christians who had already suffered for their faith.

The vast majority of Christians at this time were Jewish. They knew the Jewish faith and the Old Testament of the Bible. (The New Testament was not formed yet.)

Our Scripture today is James 4:1-10, but we will take it in three sections.

James 4:1-3
¹ What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?  ² You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.  ³ When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

I am a Christian, but I Still Struggle
The first thing that strikes me from this section is how Christians still struggle with sin and envy.  Remember, James is writing to Christians, not unbelievers, and these were hardcore Christians whose faith had been tested by persecution and they remained faithful.  And Christians still struggle with sin—both in Bible times and today.

People often mock Christians because we don’t always live up to our own standards—we struggle with sin just like everyone else and sometimes we have bad attitudes and even do horrible things.  Just because we are forgiven and saved from Hell doesn’t mean God has fully healed our sinful nature yet.  That takes time.

But that doesn’t mean we get a pass to just live however we want.  We need to let the Holy Spirit reform our character.  And we should be getting better and better, day by day.  James is very blunt—calling out the jealousy and selfish motivations of Christian and naming the evil it leads to:  quarrels and fighting, even killing in order to get what we want.

I cannot help but wonder if James was thinking of a Jewish story from the Old Testament all of his readers would have known:  the story of Joseph and his brothers.  Do you remember the story?  Jacob gave his son, Joseph, a beautiful coat of many colors.  But Joseph's brothers were jealous when they say it because it reminded them their father loves Joseph more than them.  So they planned to kill Joseph, but his brother Reuben convinced them to sell Joseph into slavery instead.  That's how Joseph ended up in Egypt where he eventually rose to power as second in command to Pharaoh.  God used the brother's terribly evil plan to save Egypt and the whole middle east from famine.  Now the Jewish readers to whom James wrote would have known the Joseph story like the back of their hand.

The Joseph story is the story of humanity—jealousy, envy, and using power to take want we want.  Why does one nation attack another nation?  Because they have something we want and if we have the power, we will take it—by force if necessary.  And even so-called “Christian” nations throughout history have acted this way.  Even though they claimed to act in Christ's name, they were doing thing s Christ would have called despicable.  This is not God’s way.  And Christians must give up our love for the things of this world. 

James 4:4-6
⁴ You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God?  Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.  ⁵ Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us?  ⁶ But he gives us more grace. That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

Friend with the World or Friends with God?
James says being friends with the world means being enemies with God.  What does that mean?  It means if we love the things of this world more than we love God, we're not choosing God's way.  God wants us to be faithful to Him.  He gives us grace to turn away from our selfish ways. 

Think about Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus' twelve disciples.  Judas was close to Jesus, saw His miracles, and heard His teachings.  But Judas loved money more than he loved Jesus.  He chose to betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver.  In doing this, Judas chose friendship with the world over friendship with God.  His love for money led him away from Jesus, showing us the danger of putting worldly things above our relationship with God.  Do you see how dangerous it is to flirt with worldly desires?

Now, you may say, “I would never do what Judas did.  I would never betray Jesus.”  Listen, if you love the things of this world, your desires will drive a wedge between you & God.  A wedge starts out small, but it gets wider and wider.  Who knows what evil you might be willing to do if you let those dark desires grow inside you.

That’s why James bluntly calls out our sin with strong language in verse 4, “You adulterous people…”  “…anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”  James doesn’t pull any punches, because he wants you to know what you must do.

James 4:7-10
⁷ Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  ⁸ Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  ⁹ Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.  ¹⁰ Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.  And remember, Jesus is talking to Christians.

Make A U-Turn
James says, “Submit yourself to God.”  Submission doesn’t sound fun—especially to Americans.  We Americans are a proud people.  We are proud of our independence.  We founded our whole nation on the idea of not being subservient to a king!  And we proud Americans want to hold our heads up high and not submit to anyone.  So, it can be a foreign concept to be submissive to God.  We just don’t like to do it.

Imagine you're driving to a new place and you make a wrong turn.  Soon, you realize you're lost.  You have a choice:  you can keep going in the wrong direction, hoping it will somehow lead you to your destination, or you can admit you made a mistake, turn around, and go back to where you messed up. 

I do that sometimes—make a wrong turn.  I hate turning around and going back.  Maybe that’s a sign I have too much pride.  I will often let the GPS re-route me so I don’t have to turn around.  Usually, it only adds a few minutes to my commute.  I can deal with that.  But even as much as I hate to turn around, if my GPS says it’s going to take an extra 30 minutes or an hour if I don’t turn around, then even a stubborn old man like me is willing to humble himself and turn around.

Submitting to God is like admitting you made a wrong turn.  It's recognizing that going your own way isn't working and deciding to turn back to God.  When you submit to God, you let Him guide you.  Just like turning around and getting back on the right road will help you reach your destination, submitting to God and following His ways will lead you to a better life, a more holy, Christ-like life.

James also says, “Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you.”  That doesn't mean we have to fight the Devil ourselves (we could never win).  No, we resist the Devil by drawing near to God.  We recognize that the evil, selfish desires in us--the way we “love the world”--are actually attacks from the Devil.  So don’t indulge those desires.  Turn away from your love of the world and you are turning away from the Devil.  “Come close to God, and God will come close to you.”  And this makes the Devil flee.  

Repent of your sin.  Mourn for the ways you have turned your back on God and God will forgive you. 
You don’t have to live in sin and you don’t have to be overwhelmed with shame.  Our God is a God of grace.  He never gives up on us.  We can never sin one too many times.  God always welcomes us back when we turn around and come back to him.  Therefore, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up in honor.”

Conclusion & Challenge
James teaches us the importance of turning from our selfish desires, choosing God's way, and submitting to Him.  We've seen how fights and quarrels come from our desires, how loving the world more than God makes us His enemy, and how we need to humble ourselves, resist the Devil, and draw near to God.  Now, I want to challenge each of you to take a tangible step this week to put this message into practice.  Here's what you can do:

Practical Steps This Week

1.     Identify a Struggle:  Think about an area in your life where you are struggling with selfish desires or where you feel tempted to go against God's will.  It could be a relationship, a habit, or a personal goal that is leading you away from God.

2.     Pray for Strength:  Take time each day to pray about this specific struggle.  Ask God for the strength to resist the Devil and the wisdom to make choices that honor Him.

3.     Seek Accountability: Share your struggle with a trusted friend, family member, or someone from our church. Ask them to pray for you and to help keep you accountable. Sometimes, just knowing that someone else is there to support you can make a big difference.

4.     Actively Resist: When you feel tempted, remember James' words: "Resist the Devil, and he will flee from you." Take practical steps to avoid situations where you might be tempted and make conscious decisions that align with God's will.

5.     Draw Near to God: Spend time each day reading the Bible, praying, and worshiping. The closer you are to God, the stronger you will be in resisting temptation and living according to His ways.

Closing Prayer:
Dear God, thank You for Your Word and the wisdom we have learned from James.  Help us to turn away from our selfish desires and to choose Your way in every area of our lives.  Give us the strength to resist the Devil and the wisdom to draw near to You.  Guide us, Lord, and help us to support one another as we strive to live in a way that pleases You.  In Jesus' name, Amen.

Guest Blog - Lifted Up: Embracing Jesus' Sacrifice for Eternal Life by Noah Hunt

This past Sunday, we were blessed to have guest speaker Noah Hunt deliver a powerful sermon at Pleasant Grove Methodist Church. Noah's message, centered on John 3:14-18, beautifully illustrated the profound connection between Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness and Jesus being lifted on the cross for our salvation. For those who couldn't be with us or who wish to revisit Noah's insightful words, here is a summary of his sermon.

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If you have a Bible with you this morning, or if you'd like to grab a pew Bible in front of you, the verses this morning will come from page 1,513. For those of you who brought a Bible with you, we will be in John chapter 3, reading verses 14 through 18. It is indeed a pleasure to be here with you this morning and to bring a word from the Lord. We'll begin reading at verse 14:

"Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. 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. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Anyone who believes in Him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God."

Let us pray.

Our Father in heaven, we are thankful for Your word to us. It is a clear word and a word of truth. You speak to us from the pages of Scripture, the Gospel, the good news. I pray this morning that You would awaken faith, belief, and trust in our hearts, that we might believe upon the name of Jesus Christ. I pray for those this morning who have believed for many years, that You would encourage our hearts, that we might want to follow You to greater depths of faith, and that we might want to act in greater acts of service for Your name's sake. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.

I don't know how many of you own pets out there or how many of you are dog people, but if you've ever had a dog and watched it grow old and gray in the face, seen its joints begin to move slower than they used to, it's sort of a sad picture. You realize the truth of the old adage: it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. I've had limited time in education—four years—but I can also say it's hard to teach older teachers new lessons. As we grow old, it's harder for us to learn, to become open to things that challenge us, to look at old truths with new sets of eyes.

In today's text, many of you who have studied the Bible for years know this passage comes from a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a wise teacher of the Bible, an older man with experience. I'm sure he was locked into his best practices and his understanding of how to communicate truth to his people. But here we have Nicodemus, an old Pharisee, coming in the dead of night to sit at the feet of Jesus of Nazareth, the Light of the World, a young Rabbi, a Carpenter's son. Who is He to you today?

Nicodemus, while old, callous, and perhaps jaded, knew there was something in the miracles and message of Jesus that he needed to hear. This morning, I invite you to turn the eyes of your heart upon Jesus and look full in His wonderful face, because the concerns of this world will grow dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Jesus does not condemn Nicodemus. He does not berate him or tell him he should know more by now, though He is a little critical. Jesus begins to build on what Nicodemus already knew. He turns to what Nicodemus knew best—the Old Testament, specifically the book of Numbers, chapter 21. Jesus mentions an example from Moses: "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up."

This might seem confusing at first. You might think of Moses' miracle before Pharaoh where he threw down a stick that became a serpent, but that's not what Jesus was referring to. In Numbers 21, the children of Israel were brought out of Egypt and wandered in the wilderness. They began to grumble and complain against God and Moses. In response, God sent snakes into their camp. As the snakes bit them and they began to die, the people cried out to Moses, confessing their sin and asking for intercession. God instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent and lift it on a pole. Those who looked at the serpent in faith were healed.

This morning, do you need to turn your eyes upon the One who was lifted up on a cross for you, to cover your sin with His blood? Do you need to turn your eyes upon the One who did not stay in the grave but was raised for your justification and freedom from sin?

Jesus was building new faith in the heart of Nicodemus, and He can do the same for you today. You might ask, "Why should I turn my eyes upon Jesus?" I offer you two points from these verses:

1. Jesus is God's greatest gift, given so that believers will live forever.
2. Jesus is God's Son, sent to save believers from condemnation.

This morning, I encourage you to wrestle with the truth of who Jesus is to you. Is He someone you acknowledge in passing, a good teacher, a moral philosopher? Or is He the very Son of God? Jesus is God's final offer, the only offer for eternal life, a life that begins today and continues into eternity. If you believe this gospel, you are living that eternal life now. It's not something to wait for; it starts today.

To appropriate this gift into your life, you must believe—not just intellectually, but to trust, to have faith, to rest yourself in Jesus. This morning, if you want to believe in Jesus Christ, you are trusting in a personal Savior who will carry you from this world into eternity.

Let us pray.

Our Father in heaven, we thank You this morning for Your word to us. Convict us of our sin and show us the condition of our hearts. Help us to believe that Jesus Christ is who He says He is, and that He is Lord. If someone is making a decision of belief today, I pray they would not leave this church without confessing that belief. Go with us this day and help us to seek and save that which was lost. In Jesus' name, amen.

Thank you for joining us for this powerful message. We pray that Noah Hunt's sermon has touched your heart and inspired you to turn your eyes upon Jesus, embracing His gift of eternal life. If you have any questions or need prayer, please reach out to us. God bless you!

Christians Are Witnesses for Jesus. Amen!

Introduction
I'm not a die hard sports fan, but if I chose favorite teams, I would probably choose the Georgia Tech and Washington, and I'll tell you why.  My brother went to Georgia Tech.  He was eight years older than me and sometimes would invite me to come up and stay with him at college.  It was really cool.  And though we were never hard core college football fans, I guess if I had to choose a college team, I would choose Georgia Tech.  But really, our family's team was the Washington (formerly Redskins).  Why?  Well, even though I've lived most of my life in Georgia, I was born in Maryland (along with my brother and two sisters).  We all moved to Georgia when I was only about 7. So we left everything we knew behind and came to a strange new place--Macon, Georgia.  People thought we talked funny and we felt the same way about them.  And my family still rooted for Washington; it was sort of our thing we were proud of because of where we came from.  

In church service this past Sunday, I asked three people why they chose to be fans of their favorite team.  One was a Green Bay Packers fan.  One was a Georgia Southern fan.  Another was a Ole Miss fan.  I didn't warn them ahead of time that I was going to ask them why they liked that particular team.  I just asked them write in the middle of the sermon.  Not surprisingly, each one of them could easily share why they loved their team and each had a great story.  The Packer fan had a family connection to Wisconsin, near the Green Bay area.  The Georgia Southern fan and his wife both attended the college and actually met while working together at the original Zakby's in Statesboro.  The Ole Miss fan grew up near Oxford, Mississippi and saw a friend with an Ole Miss notebook when she was a young kid and eventually went there.

We usually don't have a hard time talking about our favorite teams.  If we're not into sports, there are probably lots of other things we love to talk about that seem natural--our kids, our favorite movies or TV shows, etc.

We like to support our favorite teams.  They’re important us for many reasons.

Today, I want to talk about being a witness for Jesus, because Jesus commanded His followers to be His witnesses.  I want to talk about 3 ways to be wintess for Jesus. If you are ready to learn, say Amen! Amen!

Acts 1:8
⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Explanation
The Book of Acts tells the story of how the early Church, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, told people everywhere about Jesus.  Every Christian told their family, their friends, their neighbors, their co-workers about Jesus.  It started in Jerusalem, where followers shared the amazing Good News that Jesus died and rose from the grave.  The Holy Spirit enabled them to do miracles, like the supernatural ability talk to people in other languages they didn't know so that those people could hear and understand the Good News about Jesus in their own native tongue.  No one was in need in the early Christian community because everyone loved each other and they looked after one another as family.  It was a beautiful movement--the original "Jesus Revolution". 

Then persecution broke out.  The temple authorities got jealous and started killing Christians and driving them from their homes and canceling their businesses.  Christians stared leaving Jerusalem and going out into the countryside.  They went out into Judea and told people there about Jesus and more people believed and followed Jesus.  Christians even went to Samaria—a country that was traditionally rivals and enemies of the Jews.  The Jewish Christians didn’t care.  They went to Samaria and told them about Jesus and the Samaritans believed and got saved and became Christians too!

Then the Christians went up into Syria and Turkey and told people there the Good News about Jesus.  Then they went to Greece and Macedonia and even to Rome.  Everywhere they went, Christians told people about Jesus.  They told about his death and ressurection.  They told how Jesus changed their lives.  Even when talking about Jesus could get you in trouble or even killed, Christians were faithful witnesses.  In fact, the Greek word for being a faithful witness--martyr--became synonymous with giving your life for your Christ.  Christians are faithful witness who tell people about Jesus.

Today, I want to talk about three ways to be a witness for Jesus.  1) Sharing Your Love for Jesus. 2) Inviting People to Church. 3) Recruiting people for Jesus.

Sharing Your Love For Jesus
It wasn’t hard for me to decide who to ask about their favorite team.  I knew, because some people are such devoted fans of their team, everyone knows who they support.  You can probably think of several people you know and which team they support.  You could ask them why and they would be glad to tell you.

Being a witness for Jesus can be as natural as sharing about your favorite team.  I hope your love for Jesus is something that everyone knows.  Hopefully, Jesus is the most important thing in your life and that comes through to everyone everywhere, all the time.

It doesn’t have to be hard to be a witness for Jesus.  If you have a real relationship with Him, people will know.  Sometimes, they will just see it. Maybe they saw you wearing a cross or overheard you talking about your faith or they knew you went to church last weekend or saw you doing Christian service.  

If you live for Jesus, people should be able to see your faith at work.  Are you doing the kinds of things that show people Jesus is your Lord?  If someone was looking to find out more about what it means to be a Christian, would they know to come talk to you because they know you’re a Christian?

Sometime people will see your faith and know you are a Christian.  Other times, you will tell them.  If you’re a serious Georgia Bulldog fan (or Alabama or whatever), no one has to twist your arm to get you to talk about your team. Right?  You probably look for opportunities to get in a conversation about them.  You love to talk about the game that's coming up this weekend or you want to celebrate the win last weekend (or cry about the loss).  It just comes natural.  Are you that quick to talk about Jesus?  Do you look for reasons to tell people why you love Him?  Do you relish the chance to share the difference Jesus makes in your life (or even be honest about how He's helping you overcome your shortcomings)?

Inviting People to Church
Following Jesus isn’t just a private thing.  We live out our faith in a community.  One of the ways you can be a witness is to invite people to experience Jesus at Church—the body of Christ.  Here again are some striking similarities with sports fans.

Being a fan of a certain team means being part of a community.  Right?  I mean, you get together with other fans and watch the game.  There’s a whole community.  It can be electric to be in the stands with thousands of other cheering fans, all rooting for the same team.  Or how many of you have gotten together with friends to watch the game on TV?  Even if you watch the game all by yourself, there’s this sense that you are part of something bigger.  You are part of a community and that matters.  And if you really want your friends to experience what it’s like to be a fan of your team, you would probably invite them to go to a game with you (or watch it on TV with you).

The same is even more true for Christians.  If you want people to experience the risen Jesus you know, you might want to invite them to church (or a Christian retreat or Bible study, etc.).  Christians experience the fullness of our faith in a community of believers.  Yes, your relationship with Jesus is personal, but it’s not only personal.  It’s something that takes place with other people.  Stories about Jesus always took place in a group setting.  Jesus called twelve Disciples and they worked together asa group.  Jesus was transfigured in front of Peter, James, and John.  The Last Supper was a meal shared with all the Disciples—even Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus.  When Jesus rose, he appeared to hundreds of people—often in groups.

Christians experience the love of Jesus most fully through other Christians.  We learn in groups.  We worship as a body.  Jesus said in Matthew 18:20, “Where two or three gather in my name, I am there with them.”  That doesn't mean Jesus isn't present when we are all alone.  He's with us when we are alone too, but there's something something sacred and essential about Christians gathering together.  And if you want your friends to experience what it means to really be a Christian, you probably should invite them to Church—the Body of Christ.

Recruiting For Jesus
There’s one more way to be a witness that I want to talk about:  Recruiting.  Sometimes, you just need to be direct.  Sometimes the situation calls for it.  Sometimes all it takes is, “Hey, come to church with me.”  But recruiting could also mean:  “Hey, my church is packing sack lunches on Wednesday nights for the school next door.  Why don’t you come help us out?”

Again, let’s go back to the sports analogy.  In order to build a winning college team, coaches have to get out and find the best high school athletes and convince them to come to their college.  Right?  But it’s not just the coaches that do the recruiting.  How many of you who went a certain college and had a good experience and you try to encourage others to go to that school too?  And it's not that you're trying to sell something people don't need, right?  If you know your school had a great nursing program and you have a friend that's looking for a nursing school, you'd be like, "Hey, the college I went to has a great nursing program.  You should check it out."  We would be doing them a favor by hooking them up with our great alma mater.  Right?

If we believe Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, I hope we will recruit people to be part that.  Don’t you?  We’d be doing people a favor to recruit them to be on Jesus’ team.  So why not?  A lot of people out there are looking for a team—they’re looking for meaning and hope and peace and love and healing…  Jesus is all of that.  Why not be the ones to tell people where they kind find what they’re looking for?

So there's three easy to understand ways to be a witness: 

1. Sharing your love for Jesus,
2. Inviting people to Church, and 
3. Recruiting for Jesus

I Challenge You to Be A Witness for Jesus.
I’ve been giving you challenges throughout this series. Here’s one for today.  Make a list of specific people you know to whom you could be a witness.  Pray about how you could witness to them.

Could you share with them a spiritual struggle you need Jesus to help you with? 
Could you share with them a way you are growing spiritually because of Jesus?
Could you invite them to come to church with you (or Sunday school or Bible study…)?
Could you ask someone if you could start praying together. (Maybe you and a co-worker go out to each lunch every Tuesday.  Could you ask to start saying a blessing before you eat?)
Is there someone you know who needs to pray to accept Jesus as Lord?  Could you pray with them about it?

Start with a list of people. Write down their names.  Look at it every day and oray that God would show you how you could be a witness to them.  Let the Holy Spirit guide you and empower you to be a witness for Jesus.

Jesus Saves Us From Sin. Amen!

Introduction
The Bible is the Word of God and contains everything necessary and sufficient for our salvation. Today, want to talk about sin and salvation because the Bible says sin and salvation are two basic elements of the Christian faith.  The Bible teaches that Jesus saves us from sin.  

Ephesians 2:8-9
⁸ God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. ⁹ Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.

Explanation
The Apostle Paul wrote these words to the Christians living in Ephesus—an important Greek settlement in what is now modern day Turkey.  Paul started out life as a Pharisee whose goal was to earn salvation by obeying the letter of God Law perfectly.  But Jesus appeared to Paul from heaven and Paul became a Christian.  As a Christian, Paul realized that there was no hope of salvation through living a strict, sinless life because no one can do it.  It is only by grace you are saved when you believe in Jesus.

And so Paul writes to the Ephesians: “God saved you by his grace when you believed.”
We see three words in that statement we must understand:  Saved.  Grace.  Believed.

First there is the word saved.  I think everyone understands the concept of being saved.  If you are trapped in a burning building and a firefighter rescues you, you might say, “You saved my life!”  In that instance, you might feel tremendous gratitude to the firefighter that risked their life to save yours.

But what does it mean when Paul says, “God saved you?” Do you feel like you need to be saved?  The Bible says we should.

Romans 1:20-23
In Romans 1:20-23 Paul wrote: “…ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God…  …but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused…  And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles.  So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired.”

We chose to worship idols and false gods instead of God.  We may not bow down to a golden statue, but we are so prone to give our primary focus to other things when we should focus on God first.  Anytime we serve something or give our resources to something or seek fulfillment from something or try to find security in something when we out to seek these from God we are worshiping an idol or false god.  And we do it all the time.  It's is a sad reality of our fallen human nature.

And so, Romans says, "God abandoned [us] to do whatever shameful things [our] hearts desired."  And this is indeed what we see in our world.  Even animals understand sexual identity, but humans have abandoned the natural order of things.  What should be common sense has become ridiculous to us.  We think we can redefine male and female and God's design for human intimacy.  And people think they are heroic and wise when they follow these crazy ideas.  But who is really wise?  God or people?

Sin Infects All Humanity
Throughout history, there have been self-righteous people who believe everyone else but them is guilty.  Paul started out life that way.  He thought because his was a Jew who strictly follow the Law, he was safe.  But Jesus knocked him on his butt and made him realize he was a fool and a sinner as much as anyone else.  And God tells us this in the Bible.

Romans 3:10-18, 23
“No one is righteous—not even one.  ¹¹ No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God.  ¹² All have turned away; all have become useless.  No one does good, not a single one.”  ¹³ “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.  Their tongues are filled with lies.”  “Snake venom drips from their lips.”  ¹⁴ “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”  ¹⁵ “They rush to commit murder.  ¹⁶ Destruction and misery always follow them.  ¹⁷ They don’t know where to find peace.”¹⁸ “They have no fear of God at all.” 

And Romans 3:23 sums it all up: “²³ For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”

Wow!  That's pretty harsh!  No one likes a preacher to tell them how sinful they are, but it's the only way to help people see how desperately we need Jesus to save us.  Unless you're facing some terrible crisis, you may not feel like you need to be saved.  Romans helps open our spiritual eyes to see that (figuratively) the walls are on fire around us and we're trapped and Jesus is our only hope!

The Truth of the Human condition according to The Word of God is pretty dark.  And when we are tempted to excuse ourselves, the news from around the world condemns us.  How many times have you heard the most awful stories of human depravity?  We hear the stories of the awful things people do—often people we thought were good, admirable people—and then we find out despicable things they've done when they thought no one was watching.

And if we try to say, “Well, I’m not like that!”  A small voice in our own conscious convicts us.  "Yes you are."  If we’re honest, we know there is darkness in us too. Even if we haven’t acted upon it, there is evil in our hearts.  And God’s standards are holiness and perfection.  He made us perfect.  But we are far from perfect now.  And so we know God’s Word is true in Romans 3:23.  “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.”

That's the bad news.  But grace is the good news we find in Romans 6:23.

Romans 6:23
²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is why we need to be saved.  We have all sinned.  We all deserve death.  And that’s where Grace comes in.  Grace is God’s free gift of divine help, even though we don’t deserve it.  We deserve death, but instead, God gives us the free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.   

Eternal life is more than just living forever.  You see, if you live forever in a broken world where there is still evil and darkness and suffering, well that's no blessing; that's a curse.  The eternal life we have in Jesus is absolute fulfillment.   It’s what we’re made for.  In Genesis, eternal life is described as the Garden of Eden that's a paradise where everything was good to eat and where Adam and Eve lived in perfect harmony with each other and God.  They were completely naked but felt no shame or vulnerability.  They had nothing to hide and felt completely safe.

Isaiah 11:6 says: “In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all.”  Revelation 21:4 says God will “wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

Those who reject God’s free gift of grace will be cast into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  But those who accept God’s gracious salvation through Jesus Christ will have eternal life.

And that’s where the third word comes in—Believe.

Romans 10:9
If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Believe in Jesus Christ.
Believe that He is Lord and don’t hide it.  
Declare it openly.  Live out your belief.
Believe that God raised Jesus from the dead.
Believe it, not just as an idea, but as the Truth that guides your whole life—everything you do.

Declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead.  And you will be saved.

Let me pray for you.
“Lord, I pray for everyone reading this today. 
Lord I pray You will guide them to search their hearts right now.
Lord I ask You to show everyone they desperately need to be saved.
We are all in danger of death—spiritual death, eternal death.
Help us to see how much You love us—unconditionally, completely, perfectly.
Help us all to see that You want to save us, and will save us if we believe.
Help everyone today to claim Jesus as our Lord—
to declare in everyway possible to the world that Jesus is our Lord.
Help us to truly believe in our hearts that You raised Jesus from the dead
and that You will raise us to eternal life because of our faith in Him.
Thank You, Lord, for saving us today. Amen.”