In his message today, Pastor Eddie will share what the great commission is for your life. Listen carefully and write this down, it's pretty simple; “go make disciples of all the nations.” You are being sent out to share the good news of the gospel. You can go across the street, to the next town, or even across the ocean. We are to grow and encourage each other in church, but once you go out the doors, you are to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

As Pastor Eddie continues his teaching series through the Book of Romans, he'll be encouraging you to keep things simple when it comes to the Gospel message. The Bible say's that if you confess with your mouth, what you believe in your heart, that Jesus is Lord you will be saved. Your salvation comes simply from the finished work Jesus did on the cross for you. You can't add or take away from this truth. You're obedience should come out of appreciation, not from trying to maintain or earn salvation.

There will come a time in your life as a Christian when you'll be persecuted because of you're love for the Lord. Sadly, all throughout your walk with the Lord you're going to face opposition and persecution even from those within you're own family. Today, Pastor Eddie will be challenging you to stand firm for the Lord, even when loved ones try to convince you to turn away from Him. It's better to have temporary suffering here on Earth, than to be eternally separated from God.

The Bible say's that you were predestined to good works, and that God knew you even before the foundations of the world! As Pastor Eddie continues his teaching series through the Book of Romans, he'll be encouraging you to cooperate with the Holy Spirit's work within you. The only reason you've been saved is because God first put the desire within you. Now that you've received salvation through Jesus, you need to work out what He's already worked inside of you.

Today, Pastor Eddie will be reminding you that you are betrothed to Jesus, and that He has a jealous love for you. When Israel turned away from God to follow after idols, He accused them of great harlotry. It's heart breaking to God when you choose to follow after sin, instead of following after Him. Sin causes a break in the harmony of your fellowship with the Lord. In the same way your spouse would be grieved and greatly angry if you cheated on him or her, imagine how God Almighty would feel?

There are people who will see where the Bible says that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart and claim that God’s unfair because God created Pharaoh intending to destroy him. Pastor Eddie will teach that that view is a bad as well as an incomplete reading of the scripture passage. He will demonstrate that Pharaoh was able to exercise his free will when given a choice. He chose to oppose God, and so he had to deal with the consequences of that decision, which was destruction.

When looking at scripture sometimes it’s easy to be confused by what we read. For instance, when the Bible speaks of God hardening Pharaoh’s heart, it seems unfair for God to do that. Further reading makes it clear that God was only confirming the decision Pharaoh had made much earlier in the process. Pastor Eddie is teaching on the grace of God and the choices we have in life. We need to be careful not to ignore God’s grace toward us.

Men and women, when we want to choose someone for a job, tend to look at external appearance or other positive characteristics. We want other people to be impressed with our selection and with us for selecting them. God, however, doesn’t choose that way. Pastor Eddie is teaching on the sovereignty of God and will illustrate using scripture how God chooses people. We will discover that God chooses those who will further His kingdom.

When we read the stories in the Bible it’s sometimes hard to understand why God chose one person over another to bless. Like the story of Jacob and Esau – why did God pick Jacob to be blessed and not Esau? Pastor Eddie will be teaching us about the sovereign will of God. Because God is Creator, He’s free to pick and choose as He wills. It’s important, though, not to get hung up on this but to be obedient to God’s will for our lives.

The Jews of Jesus’ day tended to base their positive view of their relationship with God on the fact that they were descendants of Abraham. Jesus shook them up by saying that they needed an individual personal relationship to be right with God. Pastor Eddie is teaching that this applies to us as well. Merely going to church or having been raised by believers won’t get us into heaven; only living a life submitted to Christ will do.