First Sermon:Justice

I spent the entire weekend from Friday to Sunday past at a conference called the Pursuit conference. For a period of almost 76 hours, I spent the large majority of it worshiping and praying and finding new paths in God. But that isn't the main focus on this entry.

One of the worship artists brought up a verse in the Old Testament.

Amos 5:23-24

Away with the noise of your songs!!
I will not listen to your harps!

But let justice roll on like a river

righteousness like a never-failing stream

This hits me as a worship leader and a musician. We're always acting like we love Jesus and how awesome he is in church and bible studies, then we go into the world no different. When we love the least in our world, we are loving Him. Yet, we say we love Jesus, but what do we do?? We go home, listen to profain music, watch some television with horrible images, and live our lives for ourselves!!!
We need to stop living our status-quo, mediocre, in the box Christian lives, and Step UP!!!!! Stand up and speak for those who can not! Help those in the worst of times, not just the best of times! Be like Christ, strive for Justice and Righteousness!! In James, chapter 2, it says "as the body without the soul is dead, faith without deeds is dead"

No matter how much you say you love Jesus, no matter how much its in your head. It need to be in your heart, and on your hands.

Check out www.compassion.ca, check them out, sponsor a kid, make a difference. Start something, stand out

Back to Basics

As I move myself deeper into God's word I find I know less and less than what I felt I knew. And as I get deeper I find, the basics start to fade from memory. Over the next period of time I'm going to go back to the basics again. This is also in light of people I've realized that believe in Christ, but really don't have a relationship or understanding of Christ.

First I'm going to jump into the book of John.

JOHN 3:16

For GOD so loved the world he gave his only begotten son, so that all those that believe* in HIM would not perish but have everlasting life.

For GOD so loved the world??

~GOD loves us, he is the lover of our souls, he showed us this when he sent his son to die for us on the cross. HE loves us, in John 15:13 it says "Greater LOVE has no man than this that he lay down his life for his brothers".

so that all those that believe* in HIM

I starred BELIEVE for a reason, in Greek it is 2 words Be Lief. Be-To Live, Lief-According to, In the way that. To believe, be-lief is to live in or according to how Jesus lived.

And in such we would not perish but have everlasting life.

Because GOD loves us, loves his people,he sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross, so that those who follow him, and live in Jesus, would have life everlasting.

It really opens our eyes to see this this way. This is the most common verse everyone knows, even non-christians know of this verse. And many use it to justify anything they do. That because Jesus died, we can do whatever the heck we want, and get away with it. Faith alone, nor deeds alone, does not mean salvation. By the grace of God through Faith you are saved, not deeds (Eph:8-9) but Faith without deeds is dead (James 2:26). Truely, like in John 3:16 the path to salvation is in living our lives in Christ Jesus in all matters of Conduct, Speech, and Purity.