Main Point and Overview:
What you don’t need is “self-help” or a “YMCA community center” or “religious clichés” or anything else out there that has religious overtones without life-change. At Emmanuel, we are desperate to connect you to the only one who can bring peace and purpose to your life – the Lord Jesus Christ! It begins with a true understanding of our hopeless, helpless, and hapless condition. That’s right – you and I are wicked sinners in need of salvation! In our current American church climate, you’re often unlikely to hear such a polarizing statement. Why is that? It’s because we are always looking to see the “good in a person.” Unfortunately, there is nothing innately good in us without the grace of God. If left to us, we will choose “self” every time, which will usually result in all kinds of carnage along the way. Thankfully, God in his infinite wisdom knew this, so he sent a Savior into the world to offer us a “lifeline” before we destroyed ourselves. He literally sacrificed it all to save us from our sins. When a person comes to Christ, he is thoroughly and emphatically changed! It hardly makes sense. What I mean is that nothing can hold him back anymore! His treatment of people and his priorities in life change so drastically that he is no longer even recognizable from his past self. That is the power of the Gospel! We 100% believe in that kind of Holy Spirit power! Therefore, we celebrate God…not ourselves, but the Lord! An encouraging reminder of our new life is that the past is in the past, and we no longer live in guilt but in grace. For the church at Rome, this meant a Christian community in which everyone participated. The Gospel has the power to change how we view other people. Now, we see these people who know the same Jesus that we know as “brothers and sisters!” We long to be with them and to encourage them. We desire to “do life” with them because we have a common bond much greater than a hobby or interest – we TOGETHER have Christ! At Emmanuel, we prioritize the evangelism of the “lost” and the fellowship of the “saints.” In other words, we are desperate for you to have a relationship with Jesus through faith and a relationship with each other in love.
What you don’t need is “self-help” or a “YMCA community center” or “religious clichés” or anything else out there that has religious overtones without life-change. At Emmanuel, we are desperate to connect you to the only one who can bring peace and purpose to your life – the Lord Jesus Christ! It begins with a true understanding of our hopeless, helpless, and hapless condition. That’s right – you and I are wicked sinners in need of salvation! In our current American church climate, you’re often unlikely to hear such a polarizing statement. Why is that? It’s because we are always looking to see the “good in a person.” Unfortunately, there is nothing innately good in us without the grace of God. If left to us, we will choose “self” every time, which will usually result in all kinds of carnage along the way. Thankfully, God in his infinite wisdom knew this, so he sent a Savior into the world to offer us a “lifeline” before we destroyed ourselves. He literally sacrificed it all to save us from our sins. When a person comes to Christ, he is thoroughly and emphatically changed! It hardly makes sense. What I mean is that nothing can hold him back anymore! His treatment of people and his priorities in life change so drastically that he is no longer even recognizable from his past self. That is the power of the Gospel! We 100% believe in that kind of Holy Spirit power! Therefore, we celebrate God…not ourselves, but the Lord! An encouraging reminder of our new life is that the past is in the past, and we no longer live in guilt but in grace. For the church at Rome, this meant a Christian community in which everyone participated. The Gospel has the power to change how we view other people. Now, we see these people who know the same Jesus that we know as “brothers and sisters!” We long to be with them and to encourage them. We desire to “do life” with them because we have a common bond much greater than a hobby or interest – we TOGETHER have Christ! At Emmanuel, we prioritize the evangelism of the “lost” and the fellowship of the “saints.” In other words, we are desperate for you to have a relationship with Jesus through faith and a relationship with each other in love.
Posted in Devotional