Ambassador Programs

For a long time, I have been fascinated with the story of the Titanic. The sinking of that seemingly "unsinkable" ship after a collision with an iceberg is filled with so much human drama that has inspired endless movies, books, and documentaries. Finding the Titanic at the bottom of the Atlantic fueled even greater information than ever before. Some of the drama of those discoveries has been within our reach as the Titanic artifacts exhibit went across the country in some of America's leading museums. You could see many personal items recovered from the Titanic's debris field along with displays that recreated the feeling of being a passenger on that doomed ship. And now there's at least one permanent Titanic museum in the country. When I went into this one on the early tour, I was given a boarding pass with the name of a real person who'd been aboard that awful night. At the end of the exhibit, there's this big wall with the names of everyone aboard - first class, second class, third class, crew. Every person is either on the list that says "saved" or "lost." I looked hard for my name, and I discovered that I was one of the few crewmen who was "saved."

A pastor I know, who I had told about my experience there, well, he went to see the exhibit for himself. But he told me about it. He looked me in the eye and he said very soberly, "Except I was lost."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "The Shock at the End of Our Voyage."
 
One of the most sobering truths in the Bible is this: God has two lists. Each of us is on one of those lists. Everyone we know, everyone we care about, is on one of these two lists. In 1 John 5:11-12, God plainly says, "God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." There it is - the "saved" and the "lost." And it all depends on one thing - whether or not you have Jesus in your heart.

It doesn't say, "Whoever has religion has life" or "whoever lives a good life has life." No, it's all about Jesus and whether or not you've ever begun a personal relationship with Him. That life-saving relationship begins when you realize that Jesus' dying on that cross was the only thing that can pay the death penalty that you deserve for running your own life, for hijacking your life from your Creator. And that means you know now that you've got to put all your trust in Him to save you, because you can't do a thing to save yourself.

For my pastor friend, it was a shock to get to the end and find out he was "lost." That's the shock that for real so many are going to experience when they meet God. My friend didn't know until the end. But we can know right now which list we're on - depending on whether or not we've given ourselves to Jesus. If you know you've done that, you are among God's rescued.

But now it's up to you to rescue those around you who are still on the "lost" list. The "saved" and "lost" list from the Titanic can never be changed. But there's still time for people you know to be moved from God's "lost" list to His list of those who are "saved." But you've got to do something about their lostness. You'll have to step up to tell them about Jesus, to be their rescuer.

The devil - who wants as many lost as possible - is working hard to keep people on both lists preoccupied with something other than eternity. If you're lost, he's trying desperately to keep you from Jesus, even right now, until time runs out. If you're saved, he's trying to desperately keep you from reaching out to rescue the people around you until time runs out.

If you've never reached out to Jesus to rescue you, grab the hand of the Rescuer who came all the way from heaven to come and die so He could rescue you. If you want to go to sleep tonight knowin

One day it dawned on me.  I had become the very thing I hate. A hypocrite. A pretender. Two-faced. I’d written sermons about people like me. Christians who care more about their appearance than integrity.

I knew what I needed to do.  I’d written sermons about that, too. 1 John 1:8-9 says, “If we say we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do what is right.”  I needed to confess.

What is confession? Well, confession is not complaining. If I just recite my problems and rehash my woes, I’m whining. Confession is a radical reliance upon grace. Maybe you need to do what I’ve done in the last few days. You just need to confess. God will hear your confession.  And in your confession you will find a wonder of God’s grace. You see grace creates an honest confession. And then great grace, receives it.

Read more Grace: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine

For more inspirational messages please visit Max Lucado.

The abortion industry has consistently repeated the lie that dangerous abortion drugs are “safer than Tylenol.” This deception has led many women to take the drugs not knowing that 1 in 10 women who do so will find themselves in the emergency room. Now, Senator Jim Banks is requesting the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the drug companies pushing the dangerous pill.  

The FTC has jurisdiction over false and misleading medical claims and is empowered to protect the public from the associated risks. In his letter, Senator Banks highlights that the abortion pill providers have no studies to support their claims that the drugs are safer than Tylenol. 

Federal law bans deceptive trade practices, which have been a hallmark of the abortion industry for decades.  

Anne shares from John 16:5-15.