Reconciled with God
This is a set of messages delivered to the high school group True North at the Revival 2021 summer camp.
This is a set of messages delivered to the high school group True North at the Revival 2021 summer camp.
God calls us to always be looking for opportunities to help people understand the urgency of turning from sin to live for Christ. Paul depicts this Christian responsibility as telling the people in our world to “wake up” (Eph.5:14) – a duty not always eagerly accepted…
We must intently study the Bible so we are competent to guide others in God’s truth which can lead them to forgiveness and new life in Christ.
This could be the year. Perhaps on God’s eschatological calendar he chose this year as the time for the completion of his Son’s work of assembling to himself a people for God’s possession. Maybe this year the Church will reach…
I remember reading of an old-time preacher who wrote of God’s “open door of mercy” in his appeal to his readers. It may sound like an antiquated phrase, but I hope it is a perspective that will never be lost for those of us who seek to talk to our friends and coworkers about Christ. So often these days…
We have the great privilege of being the agents of God’s powerful saving gospel which convicts hearts, transforms minds, and integrates people into the life of the Church.
How can we trust that the resurrection really happened and what does that mean to the biblical message of salvation?
Why is important for Christians to understand what apologetics is and study it?
We are vulnerable to so many harmful effects of being sinners and living in a deceitful and sinful world, but Christ grants real life, daily provision, and ultimate protection from the consequences of sin.
Pastor Mike talks about the importance of delivering the whole counsel of God’s Word. We don’t pick and choose what we like and don’t like about the Bible, and especially when it comes to the Gospel.
We will undoubtedly experience genuine grief if we truly understand the problem of sin and the consequences of rejecting Christ, yet it should also motivate us to continue to urgently and regularly share the gospel.
We must understand and affirm that the second person of the Godhead stepped into space and time to share our humanity so that he might perfectly fulfill human righteousness and provide a divine-sized payment for our sins.
Jesus, with every right to establish the terms, makes clear that to be on his team we must give up the worldly norms of managing our own lives and putting our own interests and loves above his sovereign leadership.
We cannot afford to miss the eternally significant distinction between being simply being interested in Christ versus being truly converted to follow Christ.
Instead of wasting any more time trying to find meaningful life in our sinful pursuits, we must repent and trust in Christ to reconcile us to the God for whom we were made.
Faithful messengers of the Good News of Christ must be willing to endure unfavorable responses when we speak plainly of sin and God’s impending judgment.
Christ is coming to set up his rule on earth and calling us now to prepare by turning from sin, receiving his forgiveness, and living our lives for his glory.
We must uncompromisingly and wholeheartedly stand with the Christ of the Bible even when the consequences for doing so are negative, painful or controversial.
Christ came the first time to provide what was needed for us to have relational peace with God, he is coming a second time to establish a kingdom of peace for his people.
Like Nicodemus we need to realize our efforts are inadequate to prepare us for the afterlife, instead we must trust exclusively in the substitutionary work of Christ.
Our most frustrating challenge (and fervent prayer) in evangelism is seeing people moved from trusting in their own efforts to resting in the finished work of Christ.
We cannot be effective or faithful representatives of the saving message of Christ unless we truly know the gospel message and are careful to avoid distorting it.
Leaving everything to follow Christ is how the Bible depicts the concepts of repentance & faith – the two components of the one essential response to the gospel.
Feeling awkward or even scared when talking about the gospel is normal, even expected, but we have to power through the feelings to be obedient representatives of the most important message in the world.
God’s solution for our dilemma of guilt and judgment was secured by Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.
We cannot benefit from the real gospel unless we have a basic understanding of the real God.
We can`t afford to be haphazard about our understanding of the gospel. Failing to be vigilant or unwilling to pay the price for the purity of the gospel is always catastrophic!
Our future hope (a tangible resurrected bodily existence in the coming age) is based on the historical reality of Christ’s tangible, bodily resurrection. We must wholeheartedly confirm this fact and let I motivate us as we live each day in light of our future.