Greetings Lifers,
So I am currently sitting in my office with my lights off. Before you relegate me to “weirdo status”, (a) remember we’ve been learning that we Christians are supposed to be weird (see the past three weeks of sermons on baylife.org), and (b) my desk is currently situated under an east-facing window, creating a pretty confined but coolly lit space to work in). I think I’m a fairly (and by that I mean extremely) distracted guy at times, so I find the darkened room more conducive to personal efficiency. If you like your lights on, rock and roll – turn them on, keep them on, sleep with them on – that choice is yours.
Which leads me to this midday musing - we are all people with choices, aren’t we? Individuals down to our most basic basics – favorite color, favorite food, favorite team, book, show, movie, shirt, band, sin (unfortunately), etc. Like snowflakes, no two of us are alike. And yet we have so much in common, especially those of us who, by grace and through faith, have been saved from our sin. Check out this passage in Ephesians 2:1-10:
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 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. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
All of us were once dead, wrapped up in the guilt and weight of our sin, destined for the just wrath of God to come. But then, because of God’s love and mercy, we were brought to life through faith in Christ, freed from sin and rescued from wrath. And all of us who call on Jesus as Lord and Savior have so much to look forward to in serving Him – he recreated us with the express purpose of doing life in a way that glorifies Him. I for one am so grateful to have this in common with you guys. Grace is truly an amazing thing.
So whether you’re reading this with your lights on or off, on a laptop or a desktop, a cell phone or a tablet, from a print out or via a forward, or from whatever other form that is uniquely your own, I celebrate the fact that we all have (or will have, for all you not-yet-Christians reading) Jesus and His grace in common. While it may make us weird to the rest of the world, it’s what made the difference in each of our lives, no? Indeed, indeed.
See you this weekend!
Which leads me to this midday musing - we are all people with choices, aren’t we? Individuals down to our most basic basics – favorite color, favorite food, favorite team, book, show, movie, shirt, band, sin (unfortunately), etc. Like snowflakes, no two of us are alike. And yet we have so much in common, especially those of us who, by grace and through faith, have been saved from our sin. Check out this passage in Ephesians 2:1-10:
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 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. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
All of us were once dead, wrapped up in the guilt and weight of our sin, destined for the just wrath of God to come. But then, because of God’s love and mercy, we were brought to life through faith in Christ, freed from sin and rescued from wrath. And all of us who call on Jesus as Lord and Savior have so much to look forward to in serving Him – he recreated us with the express purpose of doing life in a way that glorifies Him. I for one am so grateful to have this in common with you guys. Grace is truly an amazing thing.
So whether you’re reading this with your lights on or off, on a laptop or a desktop, a cell phone or a tablet, from a print out or via a forward, or from whatever other form that is uniquely your own, I celebrate the fact that we all have (or will have, for all you not-yet-Christians reading) Jesus and His grace in common. While it may make us weird to the rest of the world, it’s what made the difference in each of our lives, no? Indeed, indeed.
See you this weekend!
Free,
Pastor
- Welcome Lunch – Feb 19 | 1 pm in the lobby
- Prayer Night – Feb 28 | 7 pm in the
Student Center - Paintball – Mar 3 | 8 am in the North Parking Lot
- Global 5K Race – Mar 10 | Register at the INFOdesk $25 per runner/walker
- Parent's Night Out – Mar 16, 6 pm – 9:30 pm | Register at the INFOdesk $10 per child or $35 for four or more children
- Pre-baptism Meetings – Mar 17 and 18 after services | Sat. night at the INFOdesk | Sun at the Fountain
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