South Union Sermons

Bottom line: When we incite the wonder of God in children, model our faith's authenticity before them, and partner with others to influence them, we can pass the baton of faith to "our" next generation.

We have to think with the end in mind. We need to be "next generation" thinkers. We need to think about how to pass a genuine "saving" faith and authentic "living" faith to the next generation, ie our own next generation, our children. One hundred years from now only one thing will matter and that is a person's personal relationship with God. If it is the only thing that matters one hundred years from now, it better matter to us today, because it does matter.

This message looks at three things we can do as parents and as a church to help pass the baton of faith to "our" next generation.

1) Incite the wonder of God in the next generation

2) Illuminate the authenticity of your faith to the next generation

3) Influence the next generation with strategic relationships

Bottom line: When we consistently hang out with Jesus and pray, we gain boldness to share the good news.

Our success in sharing the good news (gospel) is not winning someone to Jesus. Our success is in actually sharing the good news. The person you share the gospel with may never put their faith in Jesus, but they can because they heard. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17).

There are important lessons to learn from the story of Jesus' healing of the man with a withered hand.

1) It's a good thing to be in the same place as Jesus.

2) It's a good thing to do good on the Lord's day.

3) It's a good thing to "stretch out your hand" for the Lord.

Bottom line: Seek Jesus. Sense Jesus. Be strengthened by Jesus.

The are many things that we need to do, but one thing is necessary - spending time at the feet of Jesus. How do we spend time at His feet? We do it in worship, prayer, fasting, meditating, reflecting, etc. When we seek Jesus, we can sense Jesus and be strengthened by Jesus to do the things He desires we do in service of the kingdom.

Bottom line: The story of the gospel (Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection) is worth telling and believing.

Bottom line: I believe the bad news of my sin and the good news of the gospel. Jesus paid my debt so that I could be forgiven of my sin.

The bad is news is our sin condemns us and separates us from God. The good news is Jesus died to pay for our sin and reconcile us to God.

Bottom line: I am who God says that am. And who He says I am is determined by my faith in the Gospel message.

Paul writing the Corinthians said that if any man be in Christ he is a new creation; the old things pass away and all things become new. One of the new things is a new identity. We are made alive in Christ, become a child of God, set free from the penalty of sin, and receive the mercy of God.

To live out who we are in Christ we need to have faith in what God's Word says about who are in Christ. We need the love of other believers. The Christian experience is to be lived out in community. And we need to have the right confession about who we are in Christ.

Bottom line: The Gospel is the good news of how Jesus wrecks my guilt and shame.

The story of the woman at the well is a story of how Jesus seeks out the lost to wreck the sin, shame, and guilt that she lived with. Jesus is a seeking Savior. He is our sure solution to sin problem. When He saves us he gives us a new identity with which we can make new investments in the lives of others with a new found influence.

Bottom line: Jesus is our Passover Lamb, the Lion who willingly laid His life down so that we might be redeemed from sin. 

Just like how God’s judgment passed over every house of the Jews that had the blood of the lamb applied to the door posts and lintel, when we have the blood of Jesus applied to our hearts, the judgment of God passes over us. Jesus Christ is our Passover lamb. We apply his blood to the door posts and lintel of our hearts by putting our faith in Him. Every Jew in Egypt had to put the blood of the lamb on the door posts and lintel. If they did not do this as an act of faith, the first born in their home would have died in Egypt. If we don’t apply the blood of Jesus to our hearts we will die in our sin.

The Passover remembers Israel’s redemption from Egyptian bondage, but it points to a greater redemption – the redemption of sinners from sin. And it is fulfilled by Jesus who is our true Passover Lamb. He is the One whom John said is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.

Bottom line: Only God's grace can change us and give us true life.

The central question of the gospel message is, "Do you want to change?" This question is a question of desire not a question of ability. In John 5, Jesus asked the man who laid impotent for 38 years at the pool of Bethesda if he wanted to change. The man answered, "I can't." He answered the question speaking of his inability. Jesus wanted to know his desire.

The whole point of John 5 and the healing of the impotent man is that we cannot by our self effort change ourselves spiritually any more than the impotent man could change himself physically. Seeking to change ourselves spiritually by self effort to make ourselves righteous with God is legalism. We can only be changed and made righteous with God by His grace. That is what the gospel (the good news) is all about. It's not about the "do" of you. It's about the "who" of Jesus. He is the one who makes us whole, well, righteous, and gives us life eternal.