The church of Christ on McDermott Road

Scripture: Ephesians 2:1-10

Leading up to the destruction of Sodom, God reflected on his promises to, and partnership with, Abraham. God chose Abraham to, “Command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice.” God went on to allow Abraham not only to know his plans for Sodom, but also to negotiate for their deliverance. This story can help us understand that righteousness and justice pertain both to the God’s punishment of sin, but also to God’s mercy and patience. Jesus is the ultimate fulfillment of this story by taking humanity’s sins upon himself. Jesus also brings us into the story, so we can now begin to do righteousness and justice in the midst of our cities. (Scripture: Genesis 18:17-19)

Scripture: Titus 2:11-14

Sometimes it is confusing to hear, we are “saved by grace,” “saved through faith,” or saved by “believing,” but also told baptism saves us. The biblical authors were very clear that we are saved because Jesus died on the cross, because God is merciful and loves us, but they are also clear that we are saved when we are baptized. This is because baptism is the moment at which we declare our loyalty and allegiance to Jesus. It is the moment we identify ourselves with Jesus and his people. Therefore, we could say we are saved because of God’s grace, through repentant faith, at baptism. (Scripture: Colossians 2:8-15)

Scripture: Matthew 21:33-46

It is not uncommon for people to say they are Christians, love Jesus, read their Bibles, and pray daily, but not want any part of church or organized religion. Sometimes this is because the church has disappointed them, hurt them, or just failed to excite and motivate them. In spite of our many shortcomings, the Bible teaches the necessity of a church family. Christianity is a team sport. It’s a journey that cannot be taken alone, it must be taken together. We have an obligation to love, support, correct, and encourage each other. (Scripture: Ephesians 4:1-16)

Scripture: Leviticus 25:13-28

It is popular to think every nice, kind, and decent human being will spend eternity in heaven. However, that is not the Christian message. The Christian message is that only those who follow Jesus will be saved. Many wonder how that could be “Good News”? It sounds to some people like God is vindictive and petty. However, a doctor should not be blamed for only saving those who took the medicine; an author should not be blamed for only teaching those who read the book; and a chef should not be blamed for only feeding those who ate the food. God is in the saving business and he has made a way for everyone to be saved. He should not be blamed for those who do not accept his free gift. (Scripture: John 14:1-11)

Scripture: Genesis 3, 6, & 11

We cannot expect people to believe the story the Bible tells unless the Bible is a credible witness. Our Bibles are a translation based on thousands of Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic manuscripts. Those manuscripts are not the original texts written by the author, but were copied by countless scribes. This process the Bible has undergone from writing to copying to translating and interpreting is long and somewhat complicated, but it should actually give us even greater confidence about the reliability of our modern Bibles. (Scripture: 2 Peter 1:16-21)