As a new creation, born again into the body of Christ, your old self is now in the rear view mirror. There is a beautiful, but challenging road ahead as a believer in an unbelieving world. There are times when the things of our old life will seem appealing; they might appear easier or more comfortable than the life we are called to. But, as Pastor Ed challenges us in today’s message, we need to leave the indulgences of our sinful life behind and live abundantly in the freedom that Christ has given us.

If you were in prison, and you were given the opportunity for freedom, would you stay in your cell, or would you get up and go? The gift of salvation is free. You simply must accept it in faith. But, as Pastor Ed reminds us in today’s message, when you receive this gift of freedom from sin and death, you must live in it. You can’t attain, or maintain, your salvation by works, but when you have been given such a great gift, it is your responsibility to live in it.

There has never been, and never will be, another book like the Bible. It is inspired by the Creator of life, the giver of Grace, and the Savior of our souls. In its pages we learn how to have a relationship with the one true God. We see His hand at work throughout the ages, and ultimately His heart for mankind in the giving of His only Son Jesus Christ. In today’s message, Pastor Ed examines the story of Salvation as it is weaved throughout Scripture and comes to fruition in Jesus Christ.

The nation of Israel was chosen as God’s people by His grace and His grace alone. It wasn’t because the children of Israel were so pleasant and lovely, in fact God calls them a stiff necked and stubborn people all throughout the Old Testament! God by His grace, His unmerited and unearned favor… gave the Israelites their land and blessed them as His people. If you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you have been given this salvation by God’s grace because you didn’t earn it as well. Come to God by faith because of His grace, never try to earn it!

Pastor Ed will be teaching on the difference between having a profession of faith in Jesus as your Savior, and actually having a testimony of faith which is your faith living out in action. Many have made professions of faith in Jesus… but when the storms and trials come their way, they fail to actually prove their faith by remaining steadfast during those trials. You’re commanded to preach the gospel and to make disciples, and if all you have is a profession of faith instead of having a faith that is alive resulting in good works then it won’t be powerful!

Today, Pastor Ed will be warning against the false teachings of the prosperity gospel. The prosperity gospel teaches that once you get saved, if you have enough faith… you won’t experience any trials or tribulations… and you will have smooth sailing throughout your Christian walk. This is a complete lie, because Jesus Himself even said: in this life you will have tribulations, and that those who live a godly like will suffer persecutions! As a believer in Jesus, God allows you to walk through certain trials and challenges in order to test your faith and help you grow in godly character.

God watches over us, protecting us because the evil one wants to destroy us. He made the promise and keeps it, but we have to do our part by walking in faith. We began this Christian walk with a confession of faith, that we believed He died, rose again and is our Savior. We have to continue with that belief because the devil will attack, by sending one trial after another in hopes to make us start doubting God. Trials can either build us up, or break us down and it's the strength of our faith that determines the outcome.

Because of our sinful nature, we'd never be able to please God. We need a miracle and God provides it for us in the new birth. The old nature goes away and God replaces it with a new one. Scripture says, those who believe and accept Him, are given the right to become His children. They're reborn, not with a physical birth, but one that comes from God. The new birth is a miracle, it's an act of God. Being a practitioner of religion, doesn't make you born again. Nothing could ever do this for you, but Him.

As imperfect as we are, when we accept Christ as our Savior, we enter into a covenant relationship with Him and we are to be obedient to Him. Today we learn our faith and obedience are connected, they can't be separate. As we know, everyone falls short, but the important thing is, is that we're moving in a direction that indicates we recognize the necessity to put aside our selfish agendas saying...not my will, but Yours. Remember, a believing faith, is always an obedient faith.

Today Pastor Ed teaches that the authoritative word of God was inspired for our benefit. He say's if we hear it and heed it, we'll be strengthened throughout the journey of life. Someone once said, the Bible that is falling apart, is usually owned by someone who's not...true words. He goes on to share that Scripture isn't only authoritative, it's helpful...showing us how to navigate through life's troubled waters. Important information because how we relate to this world will determine how we handle it, or how it handles us.