Ministries:
Adult | Teens | Children

Pastor's Pen's:
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Sermon Series:
Following Jesus
Earthly Cross
His Name Is
Apostles Creed
Dealing with Feelings
Jonah
Get Real
Promised Land Living

Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

Email:
Pastor Scott Carson

Secretary Patti Hall

PASTOR'S PENS 2005

Grace Church of Burlington February 20, 2005 “The most damnable and pernicious heresy that has ever plagued the mind of man was the idea that somehow he could make himself good enough to deserve to live with an all-holy God.”    Martin Luther             A British newspaper carried this story some time back. A lady only known as Carol had been riding her moped one morning, and, just as she was about to turn right, the moped stalled. A car just behind her ran into her and she was killed at the age of 21. At the hospital they found a donor card in her clothes. It said that if anything happened to her they could use her body for spare parts surgery...so, that afternoon, Carol’s heart was given to a man named Nigel Olney, whose own heart was in a terrible condition.             But what kind of a man was Nigel Olney? Was he some marvelous person who deserved a new heart? No! He wasn’t. He was a podiatrist who, just twelve months earlier had been convicted of swindling England’s National Health Care Service out of a lot of money. He had continued making claims for people on his books after they had died or moved away. He could have gone to prison for this, but, because of his bad heart the judge gave him a suspended sentence. And now the National Health Care Service, the very same group that he had swindled all that money from was giving him a new heart, and a new life at no cost whatsoever!             What do you think of that? It doesn’t seem fair, does it? It doesn’t seem fair that a government medical program, with all its lack of money should give a new heart to someone who had swindled it out of money for years. And it isn’t fair that God should fling open wide His loving arms to welcome everyone, both good and bad, but that’s what it says in the Bible. It says no matter how bad we are, God still loves us and has compassion on us, and wants to remove our old stony cold hearts and replace them with sanctified, gracious, loving hearts just like His. He wants to take away from us the selfish, destructive, purposeless way we live and give us a new, powerful, righteous way of living through the presence within us of a new Spirit, God’s Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus. That’s what it means to be a true Christian!             God’s justice and mercy find their ultimate expression on the cross, where Jesus died as an atonement for our sins. By pouring out His wrath on Jesus, God pours out His mercy on those who believe. But those who reject His mercy by rejecting His Son will most definitely suffer His wrath. John 3:18 says, “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”             A true Christian . . . believes he is a sinner. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  Sin is what separates us from God.  Sin is simply breaking God’s law, His commandments, such as lying. We have all broken God’s law. Therefore, we are all sinners.             A true Christian . . . believes Jesus Christ died for him. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). There is no greater love than the love that Jesus has for you. It wasn’t the nails that held Him to the cross that day, but His love for you. He suffered and died in order that you might have life abundantly.             A true Christian . . . believes because God is holy, He cannot tolerate sin. In fact, He said that all sin must be punished by death. In all fairness, we should each pay for our own sins. But God, out of His love for us, paid the price when He sent Jesus to die on the cross. God called this Christ’s “atonement,” or payment, for our sins.             A true Christian . . . believes salvation is only through Jesus Christ. Jesus says, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). Jesus Christ is the one and only provision for our sinfulness. In order for us to be forgiven, there has to be atonement for our sins. Jesus is our atonement. He died so that we might live. He paid the price so that we do not have to, “For Christ died for sins once and for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18).             A true Christian . . . believes in God’s promise. “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12). God’s Word is holy and true. If you acknowledge that you are a sinner, if you believe that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, if you repent of your sins and invite Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, you will be saved.  Jesus promised, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in” (Rev. 3:20).             The bottom line question is:  Are you a true Christian?