In this worship gathering, we hear a message from Acts 16.16-40, principally about Paul and Silas in their encounter with the Philippian jailer. That most important question brings with it a few surprises – for the jailer, to be sure – but even for some church-goers today. You can watch the message below, or the entire worship gathering below that. At the bottom, you’ll find an audio podcast of the message.
Tag: salvation
Beautiful Feet, Holy Power
In this worship gathering, we hear a message from Isaiah 52.1-12 about the promise of redemption fulfilled in Jesus, and gain some resolutions for the development of our spiritual lives for 2024 and beyond. You can watch the message below, the entire worship gathering below that, or get the audio-only podcast of the message below that. Happy new year!
“Those who were being saved”
It’s no secret that the Christian church is falling on hard times these days. In mainline churches mostly – though more conservative churches are not immune – congregations are shuttering their doors because they can’t afford to keep the lights on or pay the preacher. It’s a sad state of affairs. Thankfully, it’s not a universal problem, but it’s a problem nonetheless.
I was speaking with a colleague the other day who is helping congregations in his area make some tough decisions about their future. When there was talk of churches coming together, so that there was something of a ‘critical mass’, one response that he got was that the person didn’t want to gather with others, he wanted to go to his own church. Some said that if their churches were to close, they’d just stop going to church altogether.
I was as astounded as my colleague at such an answer. Those people don’t have a relationship with the Lord; they have a relationship with a building.
Right now, I’m working my way through the book of the Acts of the Apostles at St. Paul’s Church, Nobleton. The part of that book I’ve spent the most time in over the years has been the latter part of chapter 2, which gives a snapshot of what the early church was like. But, as so often happens when we read the Bible, God highlighted a part of that passage that I had not emphasized to the same extent in the past.
Acts 2.47b says, “And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved” (NLT).
I’ve always emphasized how, in the early church, growth was a natural outcome of being faithful disciples of Jesus gathered together. What I hadn’t spent a lot of time thinking about – perhaps I just assumed – is that those who were added to the church each day were those who were being saved.
That is, the early church was composed of people who actually believed the gospel, people who had growing faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, along with their children.
In that context, it made perfect sense: why would anyone join a movement if he didn’t believe in what the movement stood for?
Over time, as the church became accepted in culture and institutionalized, people starting joining the church who may not have had true faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus anticipated this when he told the parable of the weeds among the wheat. When the disciples asked Jesus if he wanted them to go and pluck out the weeds, Jesus assured them that it would be taken care of at the harvest (Matthew 13.24-30).
As we’ve seen the decline of the institutional church, it seems there are fewer and fewer weeds among the wheat. That is, there are fewer and fewer people in local congregations who are not committed to the Lord. As the church becomes less of a cultural norm for people, we’re going back to the ways of the early church, where only those who want to commit to the Lord are being part of the body of Christ.
Of course, the loss of some of those people who were not committed to the Lord means reduced giving, and some churches find themselves on the brink of closure.
It’s like we’ve come full circle: it took a couple of thousand years, but the church has the opportunity to learn from the nascent days of the faith and become like the post-Pentecost church, where the growth comes from those who are being saved, those who actually want to live in relationship with the Lord.
It seems paradoxical, but it’s an exciting time to be the church, holding forth light in the darkness, hope amid despair. But to see the church thrive in a hostile culture, it means doubling down on our level of commitment to what Jesus has done for us, and will do for others.
Let’s be among those who are being saved, and let’s call others to this radical, eternity-changing life as well.
God has done!
There are some Christians who have doubts about their salvation.
Even within those traditions (including my own Reformed tradition) that uphold the doctrine of “the perseverance of the saints” – the idea that once we make a true profession of faith in Christ, our salvation is sealed for eternity – there are people who go through seasons in which they doubt that they could possibly be saved.
While we journey with people through the valleys of doubt, it’s important to remember that salvation is a gift from God alone that no one can take away. God could, but he has promised us that he will not take it away.
It’s important to remember that, unlike other world religions that involve human action to earn salvation, the Christian faith is not about “we do.”
It’s about “God has done.”
If you and I have sincerely, with a full heart, given ourselves to Jesus as Lord and Saviour – with as much understanding as we had at the time – at that point our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life in indelible ink. We can’t undo our salvation.
We may mess up at some point, and mess up badly; but the grace of God that entered our lives to enable us to say ‘yes’ to Jesus does not go away. Our sin cannot undo the work of Jesus on the cross.
Of course, as the apostle Paul points out in Romans 6, we should not willfully engage in sin and thereby take advantage of the grace of God at work in our lives. Not at all! But we should not worry about whether sin or anything else can separate us from God and thereby remove our salvation. When grace is given to us to believe, it cannot be taken from us.
The apostle John reminds us of this when he writes to the early church: “See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!” (1 John 3.1, NLT).
If you have professed faith in Jesus as Lord and Saviour, you are a child of the Father. You want to talk about identity? That’s your identity: child of God. And if that profession, at whatever point in your life, was real, nothing can snatch that from you.So walk today in assurance that what God has done in bringing you salvation is a gift that will not be taken away!
New Year, New You
In this worship gathering, we hear a message from 2 Corinthians 5.11-6.2 about how God makes us new creations. While we can resolve to improve our physical health, improving our spiritual health takes on an eternal dimension! You can watch the message below, or the whole worship gathering below that.
Crown and Sickle
In this worship gathering, we hear a message from Revelation 14.14-20 continuing on the theme of judgment, and how we can be ready for it. You can watch the message below, or the whole worship gathering below that.
The Big ‘But’ of the Reformation
The Protestant Reformation began on this day, October 31, 1517, when Martin Luther proposed some ideas to reform the church from within. In today’s message, we look at Ephesians 2.1-10, a pivotal passage that helps us understand why the Reformation was needed to help redirect the church back to God’s Word. You can watch the message alone below, or the whole worship gathering just below that.
Not Chosen
In this service (the first part of which is, unfortunately, cut off due to an audio issue), we hear a message from Romans 9.17-29 that is a difficult word about the corollary of being chosen by God. If God chooses whom he will save, can he also choose whom he will not save? That’s what we explore in the message in this gathering. The message by itself can be viewed in the video below this one.
This aspect of the sovereignty of God can be hard for us to understand. If you have questions, please post a comment, and I’ll do my best to reply.
Tomorrow is not promised
I’m conducting the funeral tomorrow for the son of a neighbour. When the funeral home called me, I was surprised; he was young – younger than me.
His heart simply gave out on him. It was all so sudden.
I’ve often said, “Tomorrow is not promised.” I’m sure I didn’t come up with that, but it’s true. By all means, we should plan for retirement, and plan for the future, but we should by all means keep in mind that tomorrow is not promised.
I once knew a man who saved all his hopes and dreams for travel until after he retired. He died six months after he retired.
Tomorrow is not promised.
That’s why it’s so important to be in relationship with the Lord now. Some will say they’ll wait until later in life to make amends with their Creator, since they presume that he would only want to cramp their style in the meantime. (Spoiler: that’s not really the case.)
But tomorrow is not promised. Restore your broken relationships, for your sake and theirs. Keep short accounts. And come to Jesus today. His hand is extended already, waiting to receive you by faith, and to offer you the joy of his salvation. (To learn more, click here.)
“Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously” (Isaiah 55.6-7, NLT).
Sunday afternoon baptism
At our pot luck on Sunday afternoon, many in the congregation gathered to celebrate Taylor and Jacob’s upcoming nuptials with gifts, and to rejoice with Doug Christie on his baptism. Here’s a video of the baptism:
A Life Turned Around
Saul the Pharisee was a nasty guy, as far as the early Christians were concerned. But he had an encounter with the risen Lord Jesus on the road to Damascus, and his life was turned around. How does this apply to us? Listen to this message based on Acts 9.1-31, or catch the public Facebook feed below.
It is finished!
“It is finished!” (John 19.30). Those were Jesus’ last words from the cross before he died. This is what we mark on Good Friday: not simply that Jesus died, that his human life was finished, but that Jesus’ atoning work that brings us salvation was finished right at the point when he breathed his last.
Because of this reality, I remain constantly amazed at how many people feel the need to deny that the work of salvation was finished on the cross. How do they deny it? By subscribing to the notion that they need to do good works to gain their salvation.
If you did a random survey on the street and asked people how they could get to heaven, a lot of people – even churched people – would reply by saying that you have to be good. You have to do nice things for people.
Unfortunately, these folks have put the cart before the horse. It’s important to do good, yes, but not so we can appease God; we do nice things to please God. Do you see the difference?
When we do good works as a way to thank God for his gift of salvation, we honour God with our actions, doing good in gratitude for having been set free from sin. But when we do good works in an attempt to curry God’s favour, it’s like saying that Jesus’ death wasn’t quite good enough to satisfy God.
Sounds crazy, put in those terms, doesn’t it? But it’s true: when we perform good works as a means of paying God back for sin, we’re telling God that his plan to have Jesus die in our place was insufficient.
What could be insufficient about taking the one who had no sin and placing our sin on him as a final sacrifice? How could any good deed I do come close to comparing with that?
On this Good Friday, let the words, “It is finished!” echo through your mind, and spill from your lips. Remember that on this day, our salvation was fully accomplished for us, and there’s nothing we can do to add to it.
But we can live for him, daily.
Living in Regulation Time
I announce, with sadness, that the Boston Bruins tied its series against my beloved Montreal Canadiens last night – in overtime. Overtime always brings tense moments in hockey, and especially in the post-season. It’s stressful and exciting, but it’s a game – in a sense, not quite real. What takes place in the good ol’ hockey game is very real for those on the ice and the bench, but it really doesn’t parallel life.
There is a sense in which life is a game, but it’s definitely not a game when it comes to the concept of overtime. We simply don’t get overtime in life.
True, some people will argue that after a tragic event in life – even one that may bring us near death – we feel as though we’ve been granted overtime, another of the proverbial nine lives of a cat. But the reality is that we are “playing in regulation” from the time we are born until the time we die.
In other words, we don’t have extra time beyond what we are afforded, by God’s grace, in this life. In playoff hockey, the game can’t end until a tie has been broken, and if that requires overtime, they play until a goal is scored. But in real life, everything has to happen in regulation.
Of course, many people understand this to mean that it’s important to cram in as much fun into life as possible, leading them to a hedonistic lifestyle. I won’t argue that having lots of fun in life is valuable, and even important for a complete and fulfilling life. But what matters more, I think, is that living life in “regulation time” involves investing in eternity – living beyond the here-and-now.
Billy Graham, in his crusades years ago, used to talk about the immediate need to give our lives to Christ, because if we say we’ll wait until we’re on our death bed, we could be hit by a bus when leaving the arena! There was a bit of humour in that, but also a great truth: we never know when we are going to die. It could happen at any time, without warning. It’s of absolute importance that we invest in eternity while we are living, enjoying a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ while we are able.
The great benefit of a relationship with God while we live is that we get to enjoy (and share!) the blessings of life in Christ; it’s not just about getting a ticket to heaven when we die. There won’t be an overtime period; regulation time is all we’ve got. Have you made an eternal investment? Are you walking with Jesus as his disciple?
‘For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “righttime” is now. Today is the day of salvation‘ (2 Corinthians 6.2, NLT).
Passionately His 