Nov 3, 2024 "Call upon the Name of the Lord" (Psalm 7:1-5)

 Call upon the Name of the Lord 

Psalm7:1-5 

 

Everyone wants to stand on something, especially these days when there is so much uncertainty. However, we know that we can call on the name of the Lord to be saved. 

 

In Psalm 7, we read about someone who is in desperate times. When this psalm was written, salvation was God saving the person from their enemies or the nation from their enemies. For us, salvation goes beyond the body or our immediate problems; however, the words of this psalm are still true today. 

 

We have hope because the Lord is with us. Even when things are desperate, we can look to Jesus. We can call on the same name of God and be rescued. 

 

Romans 10:13 ESV 

[13] For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

 

Some people believe the world will be destroyed and few people or no one will survive. They are building bunkers or designing spaceships to escape the end. The truth is every time we use science to fix a problem, another problem comes along. Our solutions only create more problems. 

 

The problems we face are not too different than what we have now. We need to be grateful for what we have. The desire to do more, make more, save more and overcome more is creating a world that is unattainable. We cannot sustain these resources, and we are burning ourselves out. 

 

The solution to this is to be thankful to God for what we have. We need to be thankful that Jesus has saved us. These days we see wars are increasing and more nations are coming in. While people are killing themselves, others are making profits. Companies make money by selling weapons and other companies will make money by rebuilding. 

 

The division we see today is terrible. So many people are against each other. This is not God's intention. God created man to be good and care for his creation. Let's learn how to make people feel moved and not desperate. We need to make feel hopeful and have means to live. God strives to protect and live. 

God does not share His glory with anyone. God will save you when you call on His name. The billionaires and dictators will not share in God's glory. 

 

The Earth is God's footstool. The world was created by God. God is in control and He is looking for us.  

• How He Loves

• Mercy
• In Christ alone

Oct 27, 2024 "Justification by Faith" (Galatians 2:11-21)

Galatians 2:11-21 NIV

11 When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. ¹² For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. ¹³ The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

¹⁴ When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

¹⁵ “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles ¹⁶ know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in^[a] Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

¹⁷ “But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! ¹⁸ If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

¹⁹ “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. ²⁰ I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”^[b]

 

We know Peter was bold and faithful. He made many mistakes, he always came back to Jesus and was willing to learn. After Jesus' death, Peter was one of the first to speak boldly about Jesus being the risen savior. Peter was also the first to say that many Jewish laws towards food should be abandoned and all food were made clean.

 

However, after meeting with some people from James' group, Peter started to shun Gentiles and promoted circumcision as well as many other Jewish customs.

 

We are called to love others to bring joy to God and not to receive acceptance from others. We do good works to please God and not to gain grace or salvation.

 

Paul confronts Peter for changing the message to please others. Those Christians who were promoting Jewish traditions and salvation through actions were preaching a message very different from what Paul preached and what Peter originally preached.

 

We need to be careful not to tolerate sin and yet we cannot despise others because they are sinners. We still need to associate with those who are not saved. We still need to love those who are sinners.

 

As Christians, we should not return to sin. This is a problem. We cannot allow salvation to work in us and return to our old lives. Justification of faith is a call to freedom from sin.  

 

We may be influenced by our old traditions and beliefs, but we must allow for grace to work in us. We cannot judge others because of their differences. We are accepted by God because He loves us and it has nothing with what we have done.

 

Are we allowing God's grace to break down barriers and allow us to love others?  

• Blessed Be Your Name
• Who Am I
• There Is None Like You

2024 DOEM Autumn Picnic

 

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