The Living Word

You may know Jesus today as you tune into Pastor Danny's message. You may have already been redeemed by the blood that was shed by Christ on the cross and if so that is incredible news and I'm excited for the life that you get to live with Jesus. Now go and tell your family and friends about the incredible savior you have, they deserve to have freedom in Him too. And today if you don't know about this then listen closely. Pastor Danny has some incredible news to share about how your life can be transformed.

When you love like God loves, it is transforming. It's not easy though. Loving like that means giving, maybe of your time or of your resources or maybe of something that you hold very closely. But that is what God did for you and as Pastor Danny will remind you today He gave His own son just so he can show you how much He loves you. What an incredible sacrifice! So today as you listen, ask God to show you where you can learn to love a little more like Him and then watch what he does through it.

The Bible is filled with ways for a follower of Christ to do just that, follow Jesus. In fact, you have Jesus' life laid out for you right here in the Gospels. You'll learn from Him and those who knew him here on earth, how to love others. You're given instructions for how to communicate with God and how to share the truth with others, and that's what you need to know. As Pastor Danny will remind you today, you don't actually need answers to every tiny little theological question that you might have. Hold fast to what you do know.

Do you need some encouragement today? Well, you have come to the right place! Pastor Danny is going to take us to many places in scripture where you'll find believers sharing hope and joy when it is desperately needed. Maybe today you'll find yourself at a place where you need that too. Your spirits need a little lifting and you can't seem to find that anywhere. Well, don't look for it in the world around you. Come to the source of strength that you truly need. Come to Jesus. Come to the Bible. And renew your faith.

It can be easy to look at the biblical characters and think, "I want to be just like them!" The Apostle Paul had success in his ministry, Moses led a nation out of slavery and David was a great King. But Pastor Danny reminds you to look at more than just the successes of these faithful followers of God. Each of them faced hardships, even the threat of death. They had to be courageous and trust completely in God at many uncertain times and they weren't perfect. God used them though so He can use you too, if you are willing.

Pastor Danny tells us from Proverbs, "Above all else, guard your heart." We guard our hearts by being careful about what we put inside of them. We fill it with the word and spending time in the presence of God and worshiping Him. And we stay away from the things that would draw our hearts away from God and away from doing right. Do you find yourself doing the things that you don't want to do. Look at the influences that you've surrounded yourself with and remove anything that gets in the way of following Christ.

Stop and think it over. What were you before Jesus found you? Pastor Danny shares from Revelation today that we were filthy, unfit and unable to inherit the kingdom of God. When God met us we were unholy and unrighteous, but God washed us. He cleansed us with the blood of Jesus and He made us holy once again. He brought us into the family and He made us sons of God, coheirs with Christ. There's no-one that is too far gone. No-one that has done things that are too bad that God can't wash them too.

Here's the good news. One day all the pain of this world, all of it's troubles and hardships, they'll all be over. Pastor Danny shows us today that ultimately every enemy is defeated and God gives us dominion over the world once again. We're restored to the glory that God gave us in the garden and the new world will be good just like this one used to be, but the new world will be good forever. Can you even imagine? Can you wrap your mind around the idea of goodness that never ends and never gets corrupted?

We need to count the cost of following Jesus just like He counted the cost of the cross when He came to save us. He knew that the cross was coming and yet was wiling to pay that price. We don't know where following Jesus will lead us, but we can know that there is a price to following the one who went to the cross for us. Just like Jesus we can also look at the reward at the end and Pastor Danny reminds us today that it's so worth it. Whatever it costs us here on earth is nothing compared to the glory of forever.

When we share the Gospel we need to depend on the power of the Gospel and not our powers of persuasion. When you think about it that just takes all of the pressure off. Nothing we can do can save anyone because Jesus has already done everything to save them. All we need to do is open our mouths and to share what Jesus has done in our own lives. How he brought us from death to life and what it means to live for Him. It's a simple message with a extraordinary power behind it. The power to save.