Saint John Community Church

Pastor Tom Grieb concludes our Lenten/Easter series "Good News."

 

Just last Sunday we celebrated the great day of Easter and the fact that Jesus is risen from the dead. A few days removed from that great day we continue to live in the light of that resurrection and the hope it offers for this life and the next. The disciples were encouraged to live in that hope and so are we.

 

Paul also encourages us about this hope in the resurrection, and even ties our salvation to it. He writes in Romans 10:9 that “if you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” It is not enough to just give intellectual assent to the resurrection; we are to believe with all our heart. That belief will propel us into life with confidence and strength, even to the point that we will “declare with our mouths that ‘Jesus is Lord.’”

Pastor Tom Grieb continue our Lenten/Easter series "Good News."

 

The rising of the sun each morning is testimony to the early morning when the sun rose on the reality of Christ’s resurrection.  As the sun rises this Sunday, we find ourselves living into that same reality.

Pastor Ashlee Adkins continues our Lenten/Easter series "Good News" in this Good Friday message about the great love Jesus showed us in his death on the cross.

Pastor Tom Grieb and Pastor Ashlee Adkins continue our Lenten/Easter series "Good News."

 

Palm Sunday commemorates the day of Christ’s Triumphant Entry into Jerusalem right before his death. People gathered to celebrate a man they understood to be the Messiah. In the minds of many they understood Jesus to be a sort of conquering hero who would free them from Roman domination. Jesus would free them all right, but not from Roman domination. The freedom he offered was from the weight of sin. His death on the cross all but sealed it.

 

Today we consider the redemption that is ours in Jesus. Jesus redeems us from the slavery of sin that holds us captive. Jesus pays the price for that sin and frees us to be the sort of people he wants us to be. Our scripture is Romans 8:1-2.

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our Lenten/Easter series "Good News."

 

The great prayer, the Agnus Dei, has been prayed and sung through the ages. “Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.” Christ, the lamb of God, has paved the way for our salvation and a freedom from the sin that has such a hold on us. Jesus is the one true and perfect sacrifice, making all this possible.

 

Borrowing from the great story of Passover and the blood of the lamb that brought salvation to the firstborn of the Hebrews and paved the way of freedom from bondage in Egypt, Jesus paves the way for our salvation and the freedom from sin that comes from his sacrifice on the cross.

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our Lenten/Easter series, "Good News."

 

It is the greatest delight to stand before our Lord, forgiven and free. Jesus made that possible by what he did on the cross. The debt of our sin is satisfied and we are made right with God. We are once and for all reconciled to our Heavenly Father. This is the good news for each of us. It is good news for all the world for all time.

 

One of the central themes of Lent is the salvation that is wrought by the great work of Christ on the cross. Our scripture for the week is Romans 5:1-5.

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our “Good News” sermon series.

 

The good news of Christ is very much tied to what he does on the cross. The cross paves the way for our forgiveness and sets us on the path of new life. It reconciles us with our Heavenly Father. It makes us “at-one” with him.

 

We know that in Christ we have someone who is in our corner. He is our Advocate before the Father. Jesus bears our sin, so we don’t have to. All of this is a matter of grace. It is then up to each of us to accept this grace through faith.

Pastor Ashlee Adkins continues our “Good News” sermon series.

 

From Pastor Ashlee:

 

I have to confess - I struggle with confessing. I get knots in my stomach and a lump in my throat anytime I feel I’ve done something wrong and need to admit it – which is a lot! After all, I am a sinner. But that’s not my only truth. Because of God’s love, I can admit my failures and accept his grace to live into the more important truth that while I am a sinner, I am also a child of God who has another choice – one made through confessing my sin.

 

There are so many reasons why confession is hard, but it’s an essential part of being a born-again follower of Christ. Confession brings us to a humble posture that reminds us how desperately we need God. Isn’t it wonderful that God knows how much we need him – each day – and so he makes himself available to us through the Holy Spirit? ALL. THE. TIME.

 

What holds us back from confessing? Lots of things! But I believe there is one main thing and I look forward to talking about that (and more in this message!

Pastor Tom Grieb continues our “Good News” sermon series.

 

The season of Lent is upon us. It is that season of forty days, less Sundays, leading up to Easter. The focus is upon Christ and the good news he offers to a world starved for good news.

 

In a world darkened by sin, the light of God’s grace comes shining through. As we know from scripture, Adam, while in the Garden of Eden, ate the fruit that God had said was off limits. He did this at the urging of Eve and the deception of the serpent. In his disobedience, Adam welcomed sin into the world. Just as Adam chose to be disobedient, we do as well. Enter Jesus Christ, who frees us from the hold of sin. In Christ, we gain so much more than what was ever lost in Adam. This is good news indeed.

 

Paul writes in Romans 5:17, “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace through the one man, Jesus Christ!” This is the good news we celebrate at this season of the year and the very thing that transforms us into the sort of people God would have us to be.

Minister of Students Steven Lundy begins our Lent/Easter series, "Good News."

 

Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent offer us a time to repent and believe.