Remember this offer from the US government? The deal was that anyone could bring in their old, dilapidated, run down bucket of bolts and exchange it for thousands off the purchase of a new car from General Motors—pretty much something for nothing.
Well God has a better offer for us.
Bring him all your junk (hurts, sins, shame, guilt, addictions, betrayal, lies, and whatever else haunts you) lay it at His feet and trust Him for salvation and He will wipe the slate clean and give you new life!
But there’s a catch.
“Oh brother, here it comes—there’s always a catch. What is it, pastor Rob? Do I have to go serve as a full time missionary in the deepest, darkest, dangerous place on earth? Maybe give away all my money to the church? Start my own charity? What is it?”
None of the above (unless you want to). The catch is simply this. We must bring ALL OUR BAGGAGE—not just some of it—All OF IT!
“Seriously? That’s it?”
Yep. You just need to come clean—rather than coming to impress. Don’t try to jump through spiritual hoops for God. He’s not dazzled by our spiritual resume—remember, He made you so He’s got a pretty good idea of what you’re really like. Instead He wants you to come to the end of all that nonsense—the end of trying to earn His favor, the end of working for salvation, the end of thinking we can be good enough—the end…period
Then it begins!
Once we’ve dumped our debris at the foot of the cross the great exchange takes place! In return for worthless junk we receive life everlasting.
“Just like that, Pastor Rob?!”
‘Yep, just like that.’
Truth is, He did all the heavy lifting for us.
I Timothy 2:4-6 says,
“He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we’ve learned: that there’s one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. (The Message)
Knowing this, what should our response be to Him?
Mark 10:45 says, “Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not to be served—and then to give away his life in exchange for many who are held hostage.” (The Message)
Recently hundreds of people did just that @ Southbrook’s Chirstmas Eve services and received new life in Christ. This Sunday there will be an opportunity to publicly thank Him by standing up and being counted a true follower of Jesus.
I’m talking about baptism. It’s the first step after salvation and the very thing Jesus wants every newly saved (or even not so ‘newly’ saved) person to do.
So why wait? If you’ve ever placed your trust in Jesus for salvation then it’s time to go public.
Hope to see many of you, your friends, family, and whoever else @ Southbrook Church this weekend to celebrate what God has done!
Southbrook Church – “Making an IMPACT for Christ
by marking the body, community, world,
and future with His love!”