Wouldn’t that be great to have an indicator like that to know that God heard our prayers?

Well, I want to give you unwavering assurance that God hears you, regardless of whether your prayers are answered or unanswered, and that experiencing this gives you goosebumps and a warm heart.

He can do all of that, and it’s wonderful!

But just as circumstances can be misinterpreted and feelings can deceive us, we need Truth to be set before our eyes and the eyes of our hearts. The Truth is found in God’s very word!!

We know that our Father hears us, because the Bible tells us so.

Here are:

The Top Six Bible Assurances That God Hears Our Prayers

The following simple outline comes from a Sunday School Class I did on improving our prayer life.

I. Psalm 34:15-18

The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous, and his ears toward their cry. 16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth. 17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.

• 4 Great reminders to put at the beginning of our prayers. Remember His promises. Stating these in a personal manner in your prayer will increase your faith “Father I thank you that when I cry for help you hear me and are near.”

II. Psalm 65:2

“O you who hear prayer, to you shall all flesh come.”

III. John 9:31

“We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him.”

IV. Proverbs 15:29

“The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.”

V. Lamentations 3:55-56

“I called on Your name, Yahweh, from the depths of the Pit. You hear my plea: Do not ignore my cry for relief. You come near when I call on You; You say: “Do not be afraid.””

• Note Jeremiah is in the valley the depths of the pit. But reminds by faith that He doesn’t ignore us, He draws near us. Notice the passage doesn’t speak of immediate deliverance? God draws near, and speaks assurance, “Don’t be afraid.

VI. Isaiah 65:24

“Before they call, I will answer; while they are yet speaking, I will hear.” (This is God speaking)

Need more? Then you’ll love this:

Introducing The Father Hears Me Guide.

This downloadable guide presses home (more) Scriptural promises that God hears us.

Read more

In my guest post at The 7 Resolutions, I challenge the notion that drawing near to the Lord simply involves silencing our hearts. It does… but it involves another posture of the heart as well.

Check out an excerpt here:

To learn more about connecting with Christ in this manner, read the rest of the article by clicking below. 👇👇👇

The 7 Resolutions

You Can Pursue God and Still Be Far From Him

Sometimes our pursuit of peace has very little to do with pursuing God…

Read more

22 days ago · 6 likes · T7R and Eric Mattie

Let me know your thought and comments

Like and share with someone who could benefit from reading it.

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Whatever you do, do it For 1 Glory; do it for the glory of God.

in His Grip,

Eric

Sorry, no personal audio for this one.

In this semi-regular post, I will share what I enjoy in life that you might also appreciate (or at least get to know me and my quirks better). In addition, I will share things to stir godliness in your life.

My Bookshelf

A Heart Aflame for God: A Reformed Approach to Spiritual Formation

This book was only released last year and is already an award winning classic. Now I don’t tell you that to be impressed. There have been tons of books that have won awards and I’ve cocked my head to the side and wondered how or why.

But as I have read this one, I soon realized I could be highlighting and underlining something in virtually every paragraph.

Have you every read a book like that? This is that kind of book.

I’ve taken my time to read and reflect to allow God’s proper stirring of my own heart’s issues that this book wonderfully addresses.

I encourage you too pick it up.

A Heart Aflame for God is a must-read book for all Christians.

Favorite Quotes

Three (Hard) Quotes for the Christian Life

This recommended reading is soo good! But here’s a warning. It may hit you hard between the eyes. It’s rare I find s0 many good quotes in one article. But this is a diamond mine of good material. Rebekah writes:

Recently I was reminded of three challenging, life-changing quotes that aren’t from the Bible, but are particularly convicting in terms of how Christians are set apart for God. They touch on areas of our lives that we don’t especially like to think about or talk about freely with others:

• Our lack of self-control with our words;

• Our envy of other Christians;

• And our fear of suffering.

Let me share with you one of over 9 quotes this article shares about these topics.

This one is about the envy of others:

I highly encourage you to click, read, reflect and soak in this article:

Three (Hard) Quotes for the Christian Life from Rebekah Matt

Some of the best reads and quotes for your faith in Christ can be found on my Notes feed through Substack.

You can receive daily reminders and encouragement like this one:

Visit my website to see more notes at: https://www.for1glory.com/notes

Thanks For Reading!

If someone has forwarded this for your encouragement, consider subscribing for yourself to receive more encouragement below

Thank you for praying as I’ve been balancing this online ministry with my regular overtime job, as well as other ministries and shepherding responsibilities in my local church and area. Prayer support is the best support!

You can give to this ministry by using the QR code below.

Someone could benefit from today’s encouragement. Who is that person? Share with others as the Holy Spirit leads.

Until next time, keep living for 1 Glory. Keep living for God’s Glory!

Eric

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So I decided to list 55 reflections and lessons that have stuck with me through my journey so far. After all, Socrates famously said: “An unexamined life is a wasted life.”

It is certainly not everything I’ve ever learned.

It is a curated list. It is not a particular order of importance. They have all significantly impacted me, and I wish to pass a long to you.

Introduction and Disclaimer:

While doing this exercise, I’ve realized not only what has stuck and rung true for my life and God’s work in it, but also what has dropped off and that He has pruned out of my life. I can attest that boxer Muhammad Ali is right when he said, “The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.”

For a list like this, at first, I was nervous I wouldn’t have enough. In the end, I had more than expected.

As you read this list and notice the spectrum of people I quote, Christian or others, understand that I have been ministered to or challenged with the heart of what they say, even though some of their theological conclusions, or conduct, I would not condone today. I simply want to give credit where credit is due.

Be on the lookout through the list for footnotes and links to resources. Click the footnote or the underlined text to go deeper

LOOKING FOR YOUR INPUT

Comment below on what lessons and reflections hit you from this list.

GOD

1. God’s Grace has made me gracious with others. When I truly understood and experienced the feeling of God’s gracious pardon and patience with me, I became more gracious to others.

2. I was unplanned by my parents. Not unloved, just unexpected. Yet God was aware, and He was providential and prepared me for his plan.

3. Learn quickly that God is the potter and that we are the clay. It will both humble you and set you free.

4. We live in God’s world that He narrates. The sooner we learn that, the better.

5. The Jesus of History is the Christ of Scripture. This is settled. He is my Savior, Lord, and King. He has saved me by grace alone through his blood and not by anything I bring to our relationship. I’m not who I am today without Him. He is my all in all. For that, I stand in awe, gratitude, joy, and submission.

6. There is a God. He is the Creator, and to deny Him is to be a fool.

7. God owns everything. There is not one thing I have that has not come from His Hand. I am a steward of what he has provided

8. God uses problems to direct you, to detect the condition of your heart, to discipline you, to defend you from unknown danger, to develop maturity in you, and finally to display His Glory, which is the bottom-line purpose in all the ways God uses your problems, pain, and suffering.

9. “Fear of the Lord means that I carry around with me such a deep awareness, awe, and reverence for the power, holiness, wisdom, and grace of God that I would not think of doing anything other than living for his glory.” - Paul David Tripp

   This quote inspired:

• To exercise a deep awareness of God’s power, holiness, wisdom, and grace by honoring His All-Knowing Presence in our lives.

• To exercise a deep awe of God’s power, holiness, wisdom, and grace by trusting God’s Ever-Powerful Providence.

• To exercise a deep reverence for God’s power, holiness, wisdom, and grace by admiring His Most Holy Personhood. 1

BIBLE

10. J.I. Packers quote on meditation is the greatest quote on meditation of all time. Read the whole thing below. I find myself returning to the line that says, “it is, indeed, often a matter of arguing with oneself, reasoning oneself out of moods of doubt and unbelief into a clear apprehension of God’s power and grace.”2

11. The attributes of Scripture are best remembered as The ABC’S of Scripture: Authoritative, Biblically inerrant, Clear, Sufficient. 3

12. Ephesians chapter 2 is the Gospel chapter. Learn it, understand it, memorize it, meditate. It will change your life.

13. Romans 8 is known as the Mount Everest of the Bible. Learn it, understand it, memorize it, meditate. It will change your life.

14. You will not know the power of the gospel without knowing how powerless you are. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

15. “The aim is never to become a master of the Word, but to be mastered by it.” - D. A. Carson. This keeps my posture under Scripture, not above it.

LIFE & GODLINESS

16. I settled my Questions of Faith early. Yet, clarity on some answers came later.

17. I realized and accepted I was a late bloomer. Once I did, I was kinder to myself (and eventually others).

18. This life is not about me.4 This truthful work is still in progress

19. The Lord has guided me more through closed doors than open ones. Man makes a plan, God determines the steps—I’ve had to learn the hard way.

20. Chuck Swindoll’s quote about attitude is the greatest quote on attitude of all time. I have footnoted the whole quote below. What has stood out for me is the line that says, “I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me, and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you... We are in charge of our Attitudes.”5

21. “Do what you must to conquer lust” - by John Piper. Which inspired this acronym and strategy

• Make no provision for your flesh.

• Understand your triggers.

• Succeed through established steps

• Train your thoughts

22. Always Work H.A.R.D.= Honor God. Add value to people. Respect co-workers. Do more than expected.6

23. I found my sense of humor when I experienced the deeper grace of God in my life. Not that I never laughed or had one before. It is that freedom of the gospel that set me free to not take myself so seriously. It changed me.

24. Life is too short to work with a bad pen. I have contrasting thoughts on the matter. One is to splurge on a good, expensive pen. The other is never to overlook a cheaper good pen.

25. To honor God is to act in humble ways that acknowledge Him. - Eric Mattie

26. When I gave up legalistic boundaries and embraced the gospel lifestyle, I was a better father.

27. Your feelings maybe real but they are not always true.

28. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are foundational for growth in children and adults.

29. Understanding temperament style and observing where I fall in those categories grew my confidence in who I was. Not so much an ego boost, but rather a sense of “I’m not so strange” and “I’m wired a certain way” that helped normalize my identity.

30. The following statement is not a formal doctrinal position for me. It’s more of a “tongue in cheek” lesson; Pray for Pre and Prepare for Post. I’ve shifted in this End Times stance over the years as my theology has evolved and matured. Not from one interpretation to another. But from a first-tier essential theological category to a third-tier personal conviction category. It has calmed my questions, deepened my trust, helped my study of Scripture, and increased my love for others.

31. Spiritual gifts tests are helpful to a degree. But never let them box in who God is calling you to become. Step out of your comfort zone and obey when fearful, difficult, or simply something new and different

32. Grasp your learning style and apply it to everything.

33. Celebrate your birthday. Celebrate your life. You are worth celebrating, for you are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God. It’s not about age or a number. It’s about the unique human being you are.

34. Be gracious with co-workers. You never know what they’re going through.

35. The Reality of your Problems: we live in a broken world, you are not perfect, a real enemy fights you, God’s plans are probably different than your plans.7 - Paul David Tripp

36. You can have a midlife clarity instead of a midlife crisis. Here’s my clarity to ward off any crisis in my life: Live for God’s glory through…

• Loving Better both God and Man- with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and consider others better than you.

• Living Bigger than For Yourself-live for God’s glory and seek first His kingdom,

• Being Wiser - than yesterday and in the Fear of the Lord

• Not Wasting Your Life- Consider Your Days and live Coram Deo, Carpe Diem (before the face of God, seize the day) “Only one life,’ twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last. - C.T. Studd

37. Be on the outside, what You Are on the inside8 Be putting on the character of Christ, what you are in your union with Christ. This is the outcome of Romans 13:14

38. Those closest to me shape who I become. I care that those closest to me have respect for me. For me, friends are family, and family are friends.

39. I love music from many genres. Music affects our moods. Lyrics influence our thoughts on life. Be discerning

40. Garbage in, garbage out applies in many realms of life. Stay alert.

41. Andre Yee’s quote on boring work has revolutionized. The way I see some of my boring tasks. See the whole paragraph below. But here is what pierced my heart: “We are called to shape the world we live in, to bring order to it. … When we carry out these monotonous tasks with joy, we exercise order in a world rendered disorderly by sin, and we reflect the faithfulness of our Father. We are God’s agents in tending this world that we live in. “9

42. “Prayer is both an encounter and a conversation with God.” — Tim Keller. His book on Prayer is the best I’ve read. It has reshaped how I look at and enjoy prayer10

43. “The moment has been prepared for,” is not only my favorite line from Classic Doctor Who; it is my favorite truth when I embraced that the Triune God is supreme and sovereign over everything, working everything out for His own glory and our ultimate good.

44. “Sin complicates matters.” — Richard Hanner. Simple line, but it has stayed with me because of how true it is in real life and pastoral counseling.

45. “Feed it, Watch it Grow. Starve it Watch it Die.” — Dennis Lindsay. A simple but unforgettable principle about spiritual discipline and habits.

LEADERSHIP

46. Learn the importance of failing forward: You don’t give up. You get back up. You wise up. Practical step: Learn how to do all three by purchasing Failing Forward and Sometimes You Win, and Sometimes You Learn. Both from John C. Maxwell

47. When I learned how to lead from the middle, I realized that it is the Lord’s role for me. I seem to always be placed in a secondary or support role. That was hard for me to sit in and embrace. Yet when I read the 360 Leader by John Maxwell and took stock in how to lead in the middle, I became more content and enjoyed my role. The reason is that I saw it more naturally as an outgrowth of who I was.

48. Cultivating change takes buy-in. This is true in every sphere of life. For sure, pray and plan. But realize if proper buy-in time is not allotted, the acceptance of change may not happen.

49. “Leadership is influence—nothing more, nothing less.” - John C. Maxwell

For more daily encouragement check out my Notes Stream

where you’ll get thoughts like this:

FAMILY

50. My wife Melanie is the love of my lifetime. Truly a woman out of my league. The adventure of marriage to her I would never trade for anything. We live, laugh, and love more than we deserve. It is only by the grace of God.

51. My children, Josh Allison and Grace, are so much further in life than I was at their age. Again, that is a gift of God’s grace to Melanie and me. They are my blessing and twin treasures. I’ve intentionally enjoyed and embraced every age and season they are in.

52. Men need to lead their wives and family emotionally just as intentionally as they should lead them spiritually. Guys set the emotional tone more than they realize. 1 Peter 3:7 says: “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”

53. Since fathers (all parents actually)) truly do represent God to their children, I worked hard to parent from that viewpoint, the second half of their childhood. I worked at being compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in faithful love and truth, forgiving when needed, and punishing with compassion. All attributes found in Deuteronomy 34:6,7

54. “Happy Spouse, Happy House” is better than “Happy wife, happy life.”

55. Three C's every couple should pray for in their marriage: Christ-Centered, Communication & Commitment. See the life & godliness article here.

I hope you enjoyed the list!

Let me know which reflection or lesson stood out to you.

Drop the numbers of your favorites in the comments below. I’d love to know which ones hit a chord.

Share with someone who could use encouragement.

Share

Until next time, Keep Living for one glory- Glorifying God in all you do.

Blessings in Christ,

Eric

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Eric

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The Reading of God’s Word – Colossians 3:12-17

Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Prayer Warm up

Good morning my name is Eric Mattie I serve as one of the Elders here at LEFC. Pastor The title of today’s message is Living in the Life of Christ

Where we are in Chapter 3...

The apostle Paul is encouraging the Colossian believers that maturing in their spiritual lives does NOT consist of secret mystical revelation or self-punishing disciplines. Rather it is through understanding and living on the basis of the believer’s union with Christ’s death, resurrection and future appearing.

Now remember In Chapter 3 Paul is showing the Colossians how their identification in Christ leads to a new way of life.

For Paul, He is saying that our life is bound up in Christ who has done an inside work on giving us new life. Remember I went through the short list on how people summarize their life based on something external to them. But that is not how Paul see this at all.

So Paul summarizes that our life is now

· A union in Christ Resurrection v 1,2

· A union in Christ’s Death v 3 and

· union in Christ appearing v 4

Last week I went through the front part of chapter 3 explaining both our union in Christ death and our union in Christ’s appearing.

I highlighted not so much what Christ’s death accomplished in satisfying the wrath of God and provide peace and forgiveness and eternal life. Those are all fruit of the Gospel and main components we rejoice as a Body that we are offered that grace.

Rather the aspect I focused on is what Christ death effected in our spiritual reality. It broke the ties that bind us to our old sinful self, the world and the devil.

· We are born again into a nature that has broken ties to sin,

· born again into sin that is canceled

· and born again with new ability to say no to sin.

And from that I challenged all of us to put to death sin in our own lives

So that’s the review and I want to pick it up where I promised I would take this week and that is to look at the very first aspect about our union with Christ resurrection

New realize Paul’s call to put sin to death is done so for a reason. And that reason is that is that we may have life and have it abundantly.

That abundant life is enjoyed by believers union in Christ resurrected life. Let me give the main point of today’s message then we will dive in.

Paul is saying in a nutshell in Chapter 3...

Your Life in Christ is a Union in His Resurrection. Therefore we are to be Living in the Life of Christ

So here we have the main declarative idea And then

And then main point of action

However each needs a little more explaining

Your Life in Christ is a Union in His Resurrection

EXPLANATION AND BIBLICAL BASIS

“If then you have been raised with Christ,…” Colossians 3:1

And again this points right back to chapter 2:12 where the apostle is declaring to them the reality that…

”… you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.” Col 2:12

Paul talks about the same powerful work of God in Romans:

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” Romans 6:4, 5

· Paul is emphasizing that just as we are united in his death we are united in his resurrection.

In Galatians, Paul explains further that,

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20

· That phrase “Christ who lives in me…” was again one of those phrases that escaped my early Christian walk.

· I mean the confusing phrases of having Christ in my heart and The Spirit filling me and now Christ living in me… how does that work? I mean does Jesus walk with a limp to now or am I like a muppet that some else controls me from the back?

THE ESSENCE OF CHRIST BEING OUR LIFE

· Many will say that our life should look like the very verses I preached on last week. That it is a life centered around putting sin to death.

· And I do concur that killing sin is an essential part of taking up our cross, denying our self and follow Jesus. It is a daily lifestyle of repentance.

· I mean I have a website dedicated to that aspect called killsin.com

But while it is an essential part of the Christian’s daily walk, it is not the essence of Christ being our life.

We understand that just as there is a death that has happened, we also know a new creation has come into being.

In fact look at 2 Corinthians 4:16:

“Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”

Colossian pinpoints by saying:

“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Colossians 3:9, 10

Two things we need to notice here:

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Reading of the Word

Genesis 3

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin cloths. 8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11 He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

Prayer

Father is we consider your word, allow its light, its wisdom, clarity, its voice be louder than all that the world noises have to offer

Warm up

Good morning my name is Eric Mattie and I give you greetings from your sister church LaCrescent Evangelical Free church and thank you again for the invite come and worship and share the word this morning

I want to start out this morning to asking if you have noticed any problems that have happened in the world this week?

How about problems yourself, like within your own life. Have there been problems that have come into your life.

When I became engaged and was being mentored and learning what I’d have to do in order to lead my wife and home, I learn that I’d have to man up and make decisions.

Little did I know that I lot of life and “adulting” as we call ity today was manning up and make decisions.

And the aspect of decision making included dealing with problems.

If you’ve heard this before I apologize but a few years ago I received a ministry email from Paul David Tripp in which he identified 4 realities about our problems.

Well I put this list to the test at my work.

You seeI deal with problems all day. I work in the service department. I identify problems. I correct mistakes, I make solutions happen for both my co-workers and our customers. There isn’t a day that I don’t have someone coming to clarify procedures and how to handle a rough email or if they have computer trouble- including my supervisor. And I go to them for the same things its very much a cooperative effort.

But I wanted to gauge with this list if the everyday problems of real work life filter down to these 4 realities.I put them on a yellow sticky note So as the years have gone by and I look at this list it helps me gain a perspective of both the temporal and eternal value of problems, but its also helped me grow up in the Lord and to sanctify me as I stride smoothly some days and even on the days or even weeks that I stumble humbly.

Today I want to give you the overview of the reality of your problems. I ‘ve included notes in your bulletin to follow the train of thought. But I thought could help you form a biblical view point and a starting point o have problems not just be something that you are stuck with, but Lord willing gain wisdom on how to honor God in it and throughit

It all start with the familiar passage in all of Scripture and you can turn with me in your Bibles Genesis 3 The Fall of mankind

Our good God created a good world and a good human race who reflected his goodness. Suffering and evil, pain and problems were not a part of God’s original design. We understand that problems we have today and that make up a big part of our lives, is a by product of sin.

Here in Genesis 3 it shows us 6 realities of the problems we face. And at the core of the mystery of problems many question God’s providence: Why does a good and big sovereign God run the universe the way he does? Why does such a loving heavenly Father cause or allow suffering and problems to be used in his universe that he originally did not create that way?

More personally, why do some seem to live in relative ease while others are consistently pounded with heavy blows? And why does this particular circumstance happen to this person—or worse, to me or my family?

Those are all good probing questions, ones that undoubtedly you may have asked. I will sketch along the edges of those questions and we will have some insights about problems I will conclude our time asking the practical question How do we live with problems?

Let’s consider 6 realities of your problems.

1. We live in a broken world

· In the Genesis 3 account of history and then subsequently through the rest of biblical commentary of it we understand that God says that Adam’s sin brought consequences of a curse, a condemnation and a corruption, into this world

· Consequences includes—estrangement from God, shame, alienation from others, suffering, banishment, lost identity and death.

And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you;

Genesis 3:17

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law Romans 5:12,13

For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, Romans 5:16b

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. Romans 8:20-22

· The present condition of creation is not it final one. It is like a mother groaning in labor pains. There is something better coming.

Time today does not allow a fuller discourse on the suffering and the presence of evil in world that God created good. It is a massive subject. To talk about disorder on every level, disability physical and mental, disease, depression death and disasters natural or consequential all these a massive subject. All these mentioned and to remind us, we live in a broken world.

I like it when Pastor Matt Chandler talks about it- he says the world is “busted” and if you don’t believe that- shadow a week in the life of a social worker for families. Follow a day with a undercover police officer. Intern with an Oncologist—the ones who diagnose and treat tumors. Consequently, they watch people either survive or die under their care. These are rough jobs They are dialed in to how busted the world is.

Yet we can gain a Biblical perspective on problems by understanding that the some problems we face is because we live in a fallen world where everything and everyone is currently decay and is not as God originally intended.

When we have Problems as a result of a broken world, it screams “Confusion” Problems of suffering and evil confuse us:

· “its not supposed to work this way” “This isn’t the way I was taught life goes” “as we get older it supposed to get better”

· “I’ve already faced this problem before.” “ I’m only supposed to have this happen once in a lifetime and then I learn my lessons and graduate and move on”

· “ Why does life seem so unfair” “Why does this always happen to me”

So the first reality of our problems is that we live in a broken world that doesn’t always run the way we think it should.

2. We have a real enemy

· In Genesis 3 we clearly see and understand the serpent here is Satan a real enemy who hates God and who hates you.

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, `You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”” (Gen 3:1)

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.” 1 Peter 5:8,9

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. “

John 10:10

o The Bible has many Scriptural Accounts of Spiritual activity and involvement in our world that creates problems. We see that even Satan’s action are an attack on God himself and realizing he will never win, he goes after the Father through his children. And what he is after is to steal God’s glory.

o It is so important for a believer to live our lives for the glory of God that is something bigger than ourselves. If Satan can get us to live a life of mediocrity that we don’t reflect the glory of God, than he has accomplished his purpose. One way he does this is by making us preoccupied with possessions of this world. The 2nd is to be preoccupied w/ problems of this world.

There are times we have problems in life because we have a real enemy who hates us and when those troubles come -the devil with also be screaming “Condemnations” and lies to us the whole time. Our Savior himself names the devil the Father of Lies. In Revelation 12:10 we hear that he is called the accuser of the brothers.

o “this always happens to me.” “God doesn’t love me” “If God Loves me why does he allow these problems?”

o “I am such a loser and this is what always happens to losers” I’ve failed again” “I must have sinned again “ “Am I that bad of a sinner that God has to discipline me”” what’s wrong with me”

So the second reality of our problems is that we have an enemy who hates us.

Now let me say, that not all of our problems come from the devil.

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Reading of God’s Word

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. ²⁴ For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. ²⁵ But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

Introduction and Warm up

Good morning I give you greetings and blessing from La Crescent Evangelical Free Church. My name is Eric Mattie. Thank you for the invitation to come and worship and share the Word of God.

Before I get into today’s sermon, I want to let you know that I have brought for each of you a free book called Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund. It is a best selling book about the Heart of Christ for sinners and sufferers. So in other words Jesus’s heart for you and me. I have them in the back and I probably brought too many so this would be a good time to share a free with your neighbor or loved one. Perhaps you weren’t sure how to witness to somebody, this could by a good introduction. So feel free to take and be blessed.

Today’s reading out of James really hits our Sunday morning ritual doesn’t it? Let me re-read a portion of it starting at verse 22 ↑↑↑

Let me give you the :10 Context of where we are at with this letter

James just restated his three main themes and is now explaining what being quick to listen entails for the believer in Christ.

In this first part of this letter James has three themes that he goes into And one of those themes is about Wisdom- How, if you lack wisdom, ask God for it. Believing he will give it to you and that what he gives you for wisdom you can trust it and not doubt.

How does God give us wisdom? Right here through his Word.

Yet James is entreating the believers with a proverbial statement that they are to take to heart: be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger. This is not just good relational wisdom.

This is God entreating His people on Sunday morning.

We attend church. We listen to the message. Then we leave for the week.

A poll of faithful church attenders reveals that by the time most good believing born again Christians start their car and head off lunch, they have forgotten 70% of what the preacher said.

James says v 19 “be quick to listen” but then he goes on… v 21 “receive in meekness the implanted word. V 22 be doers of God’s word not just hearers, deceiving yourselves.

The Title of my message this morning is Be Wiser and Apply the Word.

I choose that title because that is in essence what James is telling us.

“Don’t be deceived or fooled into being blinded by being merely listeners. Be wiser and apply what you hear.”

Let’s talk about Being Wiser first by talking about the heart of the matter of why we can be foolishly deceiving ourselves.

Be Wiser

· The result of only hearing God’s word and not doing God’s word can be a self deceiving narrative in our life which can cause us to mistakenly think that we are saved and truly right with God when in reality we really are not. We can blind ourselves of our true eternal state.

· We understand that we can walk out of here and walk away from our devoted Bible times and forget what God commands us to do in living for His glory, in walking in grace. In loving one another.

· We can even deceive ourselves into thinking that reading and talking about the Bible is the same as doing the Bible.

But the question is why would we do that? Some of us are smarter than that?

Jesus reveals the heart of the matter on – of all days- the day he rises from the dead.

· So in essence here are two guys talking about the events of the last few days. Then Jesus appears yet doesn’t reveal to them, who he is. And they reveal that they know their bible- which is the Old Testament writings when they said they had hoped he was the Messiah… perhaps putting a few things together in essence trying to gather what they know in light of what they learned. They are having a biblical conversation.

· Then Jesus says this: Luke 24:

25 And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26 Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” 27 And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.

· Why do we deceive ourselves? Jesus says we are foolish and slow to believe…

Now the question beneath that answer is even more telling:

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READ OF THE WORD

PSALM 112:1, 6-9

Praise the Lord! Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in

his commandments!

For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. He is not

afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. His heart is steady; he

will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries

Let’s pray

Father, you have prepared our hearts through song and scripture. Now as we sit under the teaching of your word, mold how our hearts feel for you and think of you and see you. May we submit to your commands in gladness and delight in your ways over our own. In Jesus name, amen

Warming Up.

Good morning. For those who don’t know me, my name is Eric Mattie and the elder council has asked me to step in this week as both our pastors were out this week. It is my privilege to bring the Word to you this morning.

Introduction:

This morning I want to talk about a biblical concept found in today’s reading. If you’ve grown up in the church at all you’ve heard it time and time again. Yet it’s a concept that for many of us is hard to nail down. When Scripture continues to bring it up over and over again, after a while you realize- “God’s trying to say something and perhaps I need to consider what he’s saying a little more intently.”

Today I want to answer the question “What does it mean to fear the Lord”

Let me start with a large look at the overall Psalm first. In Psalm 112 we run into another one of those acrostic Psalms, where the first letter of the sentence is a letter of the Hebrew alphabet. If we did this in the American alphabet this first verse may sound like what Dr. William Binne suggested back in the 1800’s when wrote about this psalm. He wrote

“Hallelujah! {that stayed the same}

A- All blessed is the man that feareth the Lord.

B- Being filled with delight in His commandments

And so on… you get the picture.

But this Psalm extolls the benefits of those who fear the Lord and it’s quite a list to go through. Some of the more comforting benefits includes in verse 6-8 (staying with Binne acrostic … yet I encourage you to read it in your Bible…)

L -Lo, he shall not be moved forever:

M- Memorable shall be the righteous man forever.

N- No evil tidings shall he fear:

O-On the LORD depending, his heart is fixed.

P- Planted firmly is his heart, he shall not fear:

Q- Quake shall he not, until he see [his desire] on his foes.

With such a firm stability of faith and a heart that is firm and virtually free of anxieties- this concept of the fear of the Lord needs to find its footing here in us- the 21st century Christian-

If the Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom as God word says it is, than we want to be wiser than yesterday. We want to walk better and deeper in these concepts- not just by academically understanding the truth of them. But to allow them to take root in

how we feel as Christian,

how we think as lovers of God.

And how we worship in spirit and in truth our holy heavenly Father Creator Redeemer and Judge

Whole Bible Concept

Many people feel when they read the Bible it shows a wrathful God in the Old Testament and a Loving God in the New Testament- as such we can mistakenly think the OT main command is to Fear God and the NT is to Love God.

Nothing can be further from the truth.

First, look at one of the earlier mentions of the phrase “Fear the Lord” in the OT

Deuteronomy 10:12-13

12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?

• Note fear, walk, love, serve- all of it is here and emphasized in the commands of relating to God not just fear.

Secondly, we see the continual command to Fear God in the NT.

• Colossians 3:22 – Bondservants are encouraged to work with sincerity of heart ”fearing the Lord”

• 2 Corinthians 7:1- we are encouraged to cleanse ourselves from every defilement of the body and spirit bringing holiness to completion in the “fear of God”

• 1 Peter 2:17 Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king

• Acts 9:31 Luke accounts that after Saul conversion, the church was strengthened and grew in numbers “living in the fear of the Lord”

• Jesus was said to have a delight in the fear of the Lord- Isaiah 11:3

The Fear of the Lord is not just an Old Testament phrase of piety or devoutness. Scripture shows it is actually a blessing of the new covenant.

In Jeremiah 32:38–40 while talking about the new covenant God says:

38 And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. 39 I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear me forever, for their own good and the good of their children after them. 40 I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.

• In summary, we carry in us by the Holy Spirit a planting of Fear of the Lord.

• The BLESSING of being born again believers is not only a heart of stone turned to a heart of flesh, not only the spiritually dead coming to life, not only orphans that have been adopted, the lost, found, and sinners forgiven, but a fear will be put in our hearts that will not make us runaway afraid of God, but a fear will be put in our hearts that is actually to keep us from turning away him.

• The feels counterintuitive to how we view fear

In Jeremiah 33:8-9 the Lord continues:

8 I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. 9 And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.

• Let’s pause here for a minute. Is fear the right word? I mean to define that there is a fear we experience when we see the goodness of God- is that even the right way to say it?

• All words have shortcomings and the word fear definitely has its baggage. Culturally, we know it as being afraid. But listen to what Matthew Henry says in his comments about Psalm112 and the fear of the Lord. He sums up two different types of fear

“He that fears the Lord, as a Father, with the disposition of a child, not of a slave, delights greatly in his commandments,” Matthew Henry

• The word picture Henry puts before us is we are to have the disposition of a child’s fear of his Father. Not the disposition of a slave afraid of an angry master.

• A slave is afraid of his harsh and unyielding master. A lot of people feel that describes God. That his wrath is actually an evil driven motivation. And anxiety describes that kind of fear As believers, we can feel that way if we live our Christian life under a performance based obedience, that our good must outweigh our bad to be saved or even favored. Other wise suffer the consequences of the judgment of God- whose character we don’t trust and feel he is evil.

• Now the picture of son’s fear of his father, can carry its own burden of sinful baggage as a word picture. But simply stating A good son in a good relationship with his loving and kind father has a fear of offending or dishonoring the one he loves. Why? Because in the eyes of that child his Father is his world! A source of security and love

Like King David, we need to pray Psalm 86:11 “Give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name.”

• We need that singleness of heart when it comes to living our lives in the fear and love of the Lord.

Working Definition

So now that we understand that we are called to fear the Lord, as New Testament Believers let me give you a working definition of what the fear of the Lord is and from there I’ll break it down for our main points to ponder.

This definition come from Christian Teacher Paul David Tripp. He says

“Fear of the Lord means that I carry around with me such a deep awareness, awe, and reverence for the power, holiness, wisdom, and grace of God that I would not think of doing anything other than living for his glory.”

This is such a good working definition. Because it reminds us as mentioned in Jeremiah, the Lord gives us a fear of him, so that we actually don’t turn away from him. Not in a sinful “afraid of His wrath” type of fear. But in delighting in living for Him, His glory and behaving in way that acknowledges him.

This definition not only identifies three elements of a godly fear we are to exercise, but also pinpoints attributes of God that we are to grow deep in.

So lets look into that.

To grow in the fear of the Lord we, are to exercise 3 things

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Reading of the Word:

Romans 1:16-20

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

Prayer

Warm Up

Today is a very special day as we join with Protestant and Evangelical churches around the world celebrating 500 years ago a move of God that changed the Church of God and continues today. On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther did something remarkably unrevolutionary: he posted a list of “theses,” on a church door. It notified the community of matters to be disputed in an academic debate. It was common practice and nothing rebellious about it.

But God utilized this one act to spark a reforming of His church that spread throughout all of Europe. To call her back to the purity and the authority of God’s word… and to preach the good news that we can be saved by grace alone through faith alone in the accomplished works of Jesus Christ alone based on the Word of God alone and that all is done to glory of God alone.

But our attention span with history is astonishingly short. I would dare to say that even the mention of the word “history” has cause many of you to already shut down, stare off, disengage and to endure the next 30 minutes the best you can by not falling asleep. The rest of you in the room have an interest or even passion for all things historical. You will undoubtedly keep my feet to the fire to make sure what I have to say is not only true but, because of your passion; to make sure I’m accurate.

But I stand before you as no expert in church history. I count 19 resources I have in my library having only fully finished 2 and having speed read the rest since summer. Not to mention the countless hours of messages I’ve listened to from conferences this year and great resources on the web about the reformation. I have a way to go.

But I know this-- I stand today as man who is changed because of this movement that started 500 years ago.

Had it not been for the move of God using His people like Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli and John Knox, you and I would only be listening in on a worship service that is spoken in Latin.

Had it not been for the move of God in Germany and Switzerland and Europe, you and I would be looking at the Lord’s table or the baptizmal as the center piece of this stage, instead of the preaching pulpit.

Had it not been God’s work through the labors of Erasmus, John Wycliffe and William Tyndale you and I would be lacking our own copy of the Scriptures in our own language.

Had it not been God’s working through the faithful preaching of the Puritans you and I would be laboring for our own righteousness to save us, instead of leaning on God’s grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone that they faithfully taught for over a century

I stand today as a man changed because the gospel message was recovered 500 years ago.

And I am not ashamed of that Gospel. And I am not ashamed of that move of God.

And neither should you.

Transition/Introduction

This verse in Romans has been coined as the Reformation Verse since this was the text God opened the eyes of Luther to help him realize that righteousness here is verse 17- It’s a righteousness that is outside of us. Actually it is the righteousness of Christ. Not our righteousness mustered up in good works and character. Rather that it’s a righteousness that credited to those who receive it by faith alone

And Luther said, “When I discovered that, I was born again of the Holy Ghost. And the doors of paradise swung open, and I walked through.”

That is the power of the Gospel!

One of my favorite of the 95 Thesis is Thesis 62: The true treasure of the church is the Holy Gospel of the glory and the grace of God.

Today I want us to consider together The Power of the Gospel that is the title of my message- and from this thought my prayer is that we will learn how to treasure the Lord himself in a greater and more sincere manner. That we would love him with all our heart soul mind and strength.

Looking at the verse there will be 2 questions I will be addressing: First

“What is the Gospel?”

And then 2^nd “What does the power of the Gospel do?” That will take up the majority of the outline.

What is the Gospel?

When we say the word gospel ... we know it to means “good news” Yet within that word we have impregnated it with full and divine and spiritual meaning. We’ll get to that.

For now let’s just keep our terms simple and remember that gospel means “good news” its heralding announcement of good news.

If that’s at the very, very heart of the word gospel, if that’s what the message is, the essence of the Christian message is news … good, joyful news … then this is the difference between the gospel and every other philosophy or religion.

The gospel is not good advice about what you must do. It’s primarily good news about what’s already been done for you, something that’s already happened.

What is that good news? The nut shell version of the gospel is summed up by Peter:

Listen to Peter’s words: “Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18).

• That is a full statement. That has a lot of inferences to tackle. We will address many of them as we move forward but I just wanted to get a simple definition in your head. Whether you are a believer here today or not a believer at all. This is the good news... this is the gospel.

Now the 2^nd question

What does the power of the Gospel do? I’ve summarized it in an acronym to help follow these points and follow along.

The Power of the Gospel... (P.O.W.E.R.)

1. Graciously Provides

A. God’s response to our rebellion has always been grace

We see throughout biblical history God responds to our rebellion with Grace.

Hints of his grace start early in the OT. We first see God’s grace on display when God confronts Adam and Eve in the garden after the fall. Adam and his wife made themselves clothes out of leaves in an attempt to cover up their shame. When God approaches, he does not accept their coverings, yet he does not wipe them from the face of the earth either. Instead he slays animals and covers Adam and Eve with the skins of the animals so that their sinful nakedness might be covered. God deals with the immediate problem of their guilt in the manner of his own choosing. In other words, he provides the solution to the problem of Adam’s sin.

In the NT Jesus Christ is of course the supreme manifestation of God’s grace. If grace is God’s response to the tragedy of a fallen world, then Christ embodies that response.

If we were going to be brought back from the dead and into the favor of God and enjoy that communion we were originally designed for, then God must take the initiative.

And He did …The Scripture explains that when we see the Words “But God”

God’s grace brought means of having life—He did this by sending His Son Jesus Christ.

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy…”

Titus 3:4-6

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8,9

You see we can’t boast because…

B. God’s grace alone is the decisive cause in our salvation

God, and God alone, is the decisive cause of us being saved and adopted into his family, cleared of our guilt and shame and empowered for our daily life of faith and obedience.

None of my human willingness or feelings or human influence or action has contributed to it at all. It’s God’s grace alone

Whatever role we play in our salvation it is never, at the bottom, decisive. Significant, yes. Meaningful, yes. Necessary, yes. But decisive, never. Only God is decisive. This is what it means for God to be God. Only he is mighty to save

The Power of the Gospel Graciously Provides.

No 2. The power of the Gospel…

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Click for audio above

In this semi-regular post, I will share what I enjoy in life that you might also appreciate (or at least get to know me and my quirks better). In addition, I will share things to stir godliness in your life.

This month our daughter Allison is getting married. This is the same daughter that I had the podcast Daughter, Dad and Doctrine 1 with a few years back. We are happy for her and are eager to have her fiancé Brad a part of our family. In light of this celebration of love I have a few recommendations for everyone to consider married or otherwise..

A Tool for Deepening Love (for Everyone)

To stir and stoke the fires of love, there must be a measure of what love looks like and evolves into. Paul David Tripp’s created a list of 24 Things Love Is And Does that is second to none.

It’s highly practical for all loving relationships including parent, child, grandparent, neighbors, friends, etc..

It fleshes out the actions and attitudes of love. I’m only sharing a few to whet your appetite but highly encourage you to click on the link and check them all out In fact I would encourage you to embrace them as prayer prompts.

Take one per day and pray it for your self and your spouse.

Full article and list is here.

“The Couple That Prays Together, Stays Together”

I love quippy quotes like this.

But this one really has stuck with me for over 30 plus years.

For all the years I earnestly prayed for a girlfriend and eventual wife, when the Lord brought Melanie into my life my prayer life shifted.

When our engagement hit I was already in the throws of educating myself with tapes, books and seminars on Christian marriage that were available at the time. I remembering hearing this quote above from a traveling evangelist that visited our church. Around that time I was reading James Dobson’s book Love for a Lifetime. From one of the outlines in a chapter, I realized I need to pray three things. I call them the 3C’s

1. Our marriage would be Christ-Centered.

2. We would have good and productive Communication

3. We would have a strong Commitment. to one another

4. I still pray these for Melanie and I. I began to add a 4th one after all these years. It’s more of a prayer for me but still good for a couple.

the 4th C is: Consideration: that i would be more thoughtful in her desires, needs and wants.

I pray that this list could inspire prayer in Christian couples.

Cinderella By Steven Curtis Chapman.

Finally I’m sharing the song below that my daughter wants to dance with me for the Father-Daughter dance.

I hold her request very dear to my heart when I consider,

1. They are not even having a dance - yet they are doing this along with a Mother- Son dance

2. As child, all Allison dreamed about for her wedding was dancing to this song with me.

I hadn’t really known that since before a recent conversation about the plans for the reception were being talked about.

I also hadn’t really heard the song lyrics before Allison and I had that conversation. I knew of the songs legendary emotional tug for fathers and daughters. But then I played the song in my car a few days later. Wow! What a tear jerker.

I’m highly honored that she wants to dance with me. Yet with a little sparkle in my eye and a chuckle, I think she want to get me to cry. It’s not the main goal. But maaan! My daddy feelings may crumble that afternoon.

I look forward to that moment no matter what the reaction is!!

Thanks For Reading!

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Thank you for praying as I’ve been balancing this online ministry with my regular overtime job, as well as other ministries and shepherding responsibilities in my local church and area. Prayer support is the best support!

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Someone could benefit from today’s encouragement. Who is that person? Share with others as the Holy Spirit leads.

Until next time, whatever you are doing, whoever you are loving, do it For 1Glory- do it for the glory of God.

Eric

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The title of my message is the Gospel Empowers Everyday and this is the central truth that I want to tease out over the next several minutes by taking these three words and asking three questions

What is the Gospel?

How does it Empower?

How does the gospel empower my everyday life?

So

Let’s roll.

I. What Is The Gospel?

I’m going to introduce you to the Gospel.

G.O.S.P.E.L.-

GOD

God is alive. He lives, He exists, and to deny him is to be a fool. He is the living God who is creator of the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them and reigns over it all as King. He is Supreme and Sovereign.

Because he is our creator, we are indebted to him for life itself. We are accountable to him as subjects in His kingdom. We are to worship him because he is God and there is no other like him.

• Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” Rev 4:11

OFFENDED

Now mankind has offended the rule and reign of God. We break God’s holy law. In fact sin is often defined as missing the mark. But what we’ve done is totally rebellious,. We weren’t even aiming at that mark. We turned away from God and said we‘d be God ourselves.

We are not just victims of the fall. Yes, we live in death and disease, heartache and pain, suffering and sickness, guilt and anxiety, addiction and depression, earthquakes and floods, uncertainty and insecurity.

Yet the Bible says

• Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— Rom 5:12-13

• We can thank Adam and Eve, the first humans. We have inherited sin because of them. They were the first to doubt what is true. They were the first to question what is right. They were the first to wonder, “Who am I?”--- ALL BECAUSE THEY SINNED.

BUT WE’VE SINNED TOO!

We all have participated in the great rebellion and the great offense to a Great and Holy God. Our hearts are so deceptive; we deceive ourselves with the severity of our sin. We minimize it! We excuse it. We sin and are evil, no matter how much good we try to do

• All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; Isa 53:6

• We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. Isa 64:6

SENTENCED

Since we have offended God’s infinite holiness through our disobedience, we are sentenced. That’s right! We stand condemned. We are sentenced to the judgment and wrath of God. God will be perfectly fair, and we will totally deserve it.

• For the wages of sin are death, Rom 6:23

• And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matt 10:28

PITY

Now God does not take pleasure in condemning sinners. What we see in God’s character is that he has taken PITY on us by providing a way to be saved from our sin and the punishment our sins deserve.

Look at the character of God in this verse:

• Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord GOD, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? Ezekiel 18:23

• But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy… Titus 3:4-6

EXCHANGE

Now God, being loving and desiring to save His people, and yet having a just wrath needing to be satisfied, cannot simply dismiss the punishment we deserve. That would be unjust.

What he has done is: God has sent his son Jesus Christ, to live a righteous life and to unjustly suffer for sins he did not commit. He suffered the full wrath and separation from the Father himself through the Cross and Death. We deserved that! But because of what Jesus has done… God offers us an incredible exchange.

Our sin and its punishment- for God’s forgiveness and Jesus ‘ righteousness

Defining the Exchange

Our sins are counted as His. And His righteousness counted as ours.

• For our sake, he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

• For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, 1 Peter 3:18

The Means of the Exchange

You might be asking why is Jesus the only Way?

• Well, because Jesus is God, His punishment was valuable because of His Divine nature.

• Jesus became man; he was flesh and blood and, as a result, was our substitute.

• Jesus lived the perfect life, so he was the perfect sacrifice for our sins, thereby reconciling us to God

• Jesus rose from the dead three days later, conquering death, and thus possesses the authority to give eternal life.

The Avenue for the Exchange

Since Jesus is the only way we are to be saved and rescued, what do we do?

We’ve heard that the Gospel is the good news about God and what he has done, and we stand convicted of the truths of our guilt. Yet now we see even clearer the greatness and goodness of God and what he has done and how he is glorified through this. We understand why Jesus is the only way to be saved; we cannot obviously save ourselves… what do we do to be saved?

There must an exchange of our sinfulness for God’s righteousness by having faith in Jesus Christ.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. Ephesians 2:8,9

What is faith? Faith has simply been defined as reliance or trust. Two aspects

Love this acronym: FAITH

Forsaking All! I Take Him- J.I. Packer

Forsaking all- Repenting of sin! Turning from it and turning toward God and asking forgiveness.

I take him- I rely fully on Christ!

You are saved by Faith alone. Better yet, you are saved by Faith alone that is alive! We don’t have a faith that is dead.

• We bank everything on Christ! His righteousness, His accomplishment, His Work …for salvation, eternal destiny, and even life here and now.

• We forsake all our accomplishments, all our work, all our good deeds to be satisfied in this life

• We take him. We find our satisfaction in Him.

• Not the gifts of justification and imputation and grace and adoption and the Spirit in us. NO. We find our satisfaction in him!

LIFE

The Gospel is also about Life- Life eternally yes. But also life here. And the Gospel empowers us for life here and now.

• The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. John 10:10

Now I’m not saying the gospel releases us to have the best life now! I’m not saying he empowers us to live life the way the world declares. The gospel doesn’t help us succeed in the pursuit of materialism, narcissism, and comforts! It is not a means to our selfish ends.

Since God himself is the ultimate good news, and we become reconciled to him through Jesus Christ, and we worship him as Savior and God---

We enjoy this joy in Him despite the pains and disappointments of this world.

We enjoy this life satisfaction in Him despite the situations that leave us empty and dry. Christ is our fullness of life...Simply, he is our life.

That is the gospel! That is the Good news.

OK Now What? What do we do with this information?

The Lord God is calling you to

1. Turn away from your sin and

2. Trust in Jesus’s work on the cross to forgive you, make you new over time and

3. Believe that he is alive and will work in your life until He calls you home

This invitation is a call for you to receive salvation from your sins. This salvation is not a one-time prayer for fire insurance from hell. It is a posture of repenting and placing your faith in Jesus daily.

It begins in a moment, and that moment could be now. Simply talk to God about the three points He is calling all of us to, noted above.

Further Reads:

For the moment of lament you are in has been prepared for..

Blessings- Eric

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In my guest post at The 7 Resolutions, I encourage the pursuit of strengthening ourselves in the Lord. This strengthening is a divine encounter we are to cultivate in our spirits in order to connect with God.

Here is section of what I wrote:

To learn more about connect wit Christ in this manner read the rest of the article by clicking below. 👇👇👇

The 7 Resolutions

How to Find Strength in the Lord Like David

The greatest reason we exist is the greatest reason to enjoy life…

Read more

2 months ago · 3 likes · T7R and Eric Mattie

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Whatever you do do it For 1 Glory; do it for the glory of God.

Blessings

Eric

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