Gtcotr/ss062412
Ephesians 2
8 For by grace you have been
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone
should boast.
10 For we are His
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand that we should walk in them.
For
by grace are you saved
The
Bible teaches a “Grace Based” salvation message along with a “Works Based” life
message.
The Salvation of every Sinner is based on Grace
However
The Life of every Believer is based on Works
The
aim of the Gospel and therefore my aim each time I have the opportunity to
preach, teach, counsel or encourage someone, is twofold:
1.
Lead every lost soul to salvation by grace through faith in the
finished work of the cross, without regard as to what they have done in their
past.
2.
Motivate every Born Again Believer to do some work for Jesus, without regard as
to who they are or who they may think they are.
Grace
creates opportunity for everyone … so does work!
Faith
alone won’t save anyone! It might only take faith on the part of the lost, but
in order for anyone to receive salvation it took work on someone’s part. First,
Jesus worked mighty hard to provide what Grace promises, then many saints work
tirelessly around the globe to continue the offering of God’s Grace to every
lost soul in every generation.
Salvation
is given by grace … the good grace of someone at work!
Each
person is saved by grace, which grace is a gift of God. Imagine with me just
who and how many who’s God used to make your gift and bring it to you exactly
when you were ready for it?
Somehow
we imagine Christmas presents to be free gifts from Santa without ever considering
how many Elves it took to make and test and wrap and deliver those billions of
gifts. Unlike that image of Santa, God gives gifts on a daily basis – reckon
how many workers He needs?
So,
if you are not yet saved by this grace … get saved today! God has a lot of
people working on your salvation who could be busy doing other things. Stop
wasting God’s time and resources with your indecision and procrastination. Get
saved today – it’s free for all sinners and there is nothing you can do to get
it except simply receive it by believing in Jesus.
Sinner … Get saved and then get to work!
Believers
… we have some work to do. God has made me your supervisor and I have a list of
things He wants done.
I
have received a big order from heaven this week to increase ‘God Awareness’ in the earth. God wants to get
people’s attention and here is what we are going to do this week to help Him
accomplish that goal.
1.
Right
now I need you to Think about someone you know who is
either lost or backslidden or in real need of God’s help.
2.
As
soon you have that person’s name or their family in your mind I want you to
stand up. (I’m not going to have you come down front or do anything that will
embarrass you or ask you to tell who the person is – just get the name of a
person who is lost or away from God or in real need firmly fixed in your head
and then stand if you can)
3.
Ok
– those of you listening to our broadcast – do the same thing … get a name or a
family in your mind and stand right there where you are, unless you are driving
or something like that … if you can’t, God will understand. --- Ok – got it?
4.
As
we close this service this morning we are going to do two things –
a. First we are going
to pray for that person or family – out loud and right now. This is the work of
God – God needs help to get His grace out to others. Our first work of God is
to pray. This is one of the easiest jobs you will ever do for Jesus.
b. Number two: This
coming week we are going to do some more work for God in that each one of us is
going to contact the person we have in our mind right now who is either lost or
away from God or in need of God’s help, and we are going to say this or
something like this to them:
“This week God laid you on my heart and I prayed for you. If there
is anything special you need, let me know and I will add it to my prayer time.”
That’s
all … it’s that simple … you are working for God. With this we will assist God
in reaching His goal of increasing “God Awareness” in the lives of others and
let them know that He cares and that His grace is available.
We
are going to pray now and don’t forget, follow up with a phone call, an email,
a text, a FB post or private message, card, letter or a simple personal
conversation with the person for whom you are praying.
This
may not seem like much to ask but if we will all do it together, the results
will be amazing and you will hear testimonies that the grace of God was
sufficient to meet so many simple and desperate needs in the lives of people
who right now may not think that anyone knows or cares where they are in life.
Are
you ready? Do you have that individual or family in your mind? Let’s pray!
I
have a printout of what you need to say to this person this week – it’s my job
to make your job easier!
“This week God laid you on my heart and I prayed for you. If there
is anything special you need, let me know and I will add it to my prayer time.”
“This week God laid
you on my heart and I prayed for you. If there is anything special you need,
let me know and I will add it to my prayer time.”
“This week God laid
you on my heart and I prayed for you. If there is anything special you need,
let me know and I will add it to my prayer time.”
“This week God laid
you on my heart and I prayed for you. If there is anything special you need,
let me know and I will add it to my prayer time.”
“This week God laid
you on my heart and I prayed for you. If there is anything special you need,
let me know and I will add it to my prayer time.”
“This week God laid
you on my heart and I prayed for you. If there is anything special you need,
let me know and I will add it to my prayer time.”
“This week God laid
you on my heart and I prayed for you. If there is anything special you need,
let me know and I will add it to my prayer time.”
“This week God laid
you on my heart and I prayed for you. If there is anything special you need,
let me know and I will add it to my prayer time.”
“This week God laid
you on my heart and I prayed for you. If there is anything special you need,
let me know and I will add it to my prayer time.”
