Faith vs Works - Pastor Chris Kouba

Turning your Bibles to Romans chapter 4.

Romans 4 · chapter mention

Romans chapter 4 is where we're gonna spend some time.

Romans 4 · chapter mention

I want to give a word of greeting to all of the men at the Ramsey Unit and all of the women at the Plain State Correctional Facility.

We are very grateful to bring this message to you today, and so grateful that you are joining with us as we walk this through.

You might have recognized a little bit of the background of what the video we just showed that was down at Discovery Greens, uh down in downtown Houston.

Uh that was also in the backdrop was Minute Made Park, which is going to be rocking on Tuesday night, uh, as the Astros, a little plug for them, uh, begin their pursuit uh of hopefully coming and bringing another world championship uh back to the city of Houston for sure.

But I'm just curious, uh, while that was downtown and definitely different people uh go downtown from all different places, if you were to go to wherever you're gonna go to lunch today, whether you're gonna go to Chewy's or Papacitos or Tenroof, wherever it is that you're gonna go, and we were to not be weird, but to walk to each different table and ask them the very same question.

What does it take for a person to go to heaven?

You think we would get different answers?

And there's a pretty broad spectrum that we just saw down as a sample size down in downtown Houston.

I mean, you got everything from basically lights out, it's over.

You have this idea that somehow like your energy is gonna come back in some sort of different way, and then you also got a little spirituality thrown in there where you got baptism and you got golden rule and you got all this kind of stuff.

The question that I want us to consider today is a question that is a foundational question.

It's so important, I would tell you, the answer to the question is the difference between heaven and hell.

The difference in the question is between eternal life and eternal damnation.

The question that I want us to consider is what does it take for a person to go to heaven?

And there is only one answer.

Answer is this salvation is by faith alone and not by works.

Salvation is by faith alone and not by works.

This doctrine, Sulafidae, is what it was described in the Latin, was literally a foundational document that was the had led to the Protestant Reformation breaking off from the Catholic Church.

But it wasn't just breaking off from the Catholic Church, it is this singular statement that separates Christianity from every other religion that exists.

Salvation is by faith alone and not by works.

I want you to know every single time that I get in the car and I head towards a destination without fail, no matter if I know exactly where I am going, I will always start by opening up my phone and putting in the destination in the Waze app.

If you're not familiar with the Waze app, you should be familiar with the Waze app because the more of us that use Waze, the better off that it is.

Waze is an app that doesn't just tell you where you're supposed to go, like all different navigation apps.

Instead, the Waze app actually tells you the best route to get to your destination the fastest.

And I need you to know that even though you may assume you know which way is the fastest, you don't know what danger lies ahead.

You don't know where there's traffic jams, you don't know when they just decide to shut down 1960 at Westlake Houston and throw everybody into a tailspin over the course of the last week and in the next few days, right?

Like you don't know when your life is gonna be disrupted.

And so I love the Waze app because it tells me not only how to get to my destination, but it also many times by just being nice, will tell me a couple of alternate routes to get to that destination.

It might tell me that I can go this way the fastest, and this way is only one minute slower, so you can go this way.

And I would tell you this: my experience has been you gotta trust Waze, even when it takes you on some pretty weird routes to get to where it is that you're going.

I need you to know what we're gonna talk about today is not the Waze app where you get to choose your route to get there.

I need you to know that there is only one acceptable route to get to the destination.

And this singular fact is what separates Christianity from every other religion that exists.

And that one singular route is salvation is by faith alone, not by works.

Let's begin reading in Romans chapter 4, beginning in verse 1.

Romans 4 · chapter mention

He says, What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather, according to the flesh?

What we see here is Abraham being introduced.

He was the father of multitudes, he was the father of the Jewish people.

He was somebody who was looked at and seen as somebody who was the inspiration for an entire group of people.

Literally, he was the forefather that went before them.

Verse 2, for if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God.

What he's saying is that the assumption was, is that Abraham did what he was supposed to do, and so therefore God made him righteous as an exchange for what he did.

The idea is this is that Abraham achieved his salvation by works, and so therefore, all of the followers of Abraham, the Jewish people, they also in turn would have to achieve their salvation as well by works.

Look at what it says in verse 3.

For what does the scripture say?

Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness.

Let me give you a little history.

In Genesis chapter 12, we see Abram was his name at the time.

Genesis 12 · chapter mention

It gets changed to Abraham, and God gives him a promise and says that, hey, Abraham, I'm gonna make you a father of many nations, I'm gonna bless you with land, I'm gonna bless you with the law, I'm gonna give you all of these things.

The problem was Abraham was 75 years old and was childless.

We see that that moment, though, that Abraham believed God even before it actually happened.

Fast forward 25 years, Genesis chapter 15, and it says that yet again God gives him the promise and says, Abraham, I'm gonna make you a father of a multitude.

Genesis 15 · chapter mention

I looked it up on Google this week, though.

If you are 99, there is no advice on Google as to how to get pregnant, all right?

Not a lot of people trying to figure out how to have kids when they're 99 years old.

Yet Abraham is in a situation to where, biologically and otherwise, it does not appear as though God could come through on the promise.

But Genesis chapter 15, verse 6 is quoted here in Romans chapter 4, verse 3, when it says, Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:6 Romans 4:3

What this shows is that he believed based upon what God said, not based upon what he saw.

And as a result of that, it says it was credited to him as righteousness.

Look at verse 4.

It says, now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift, but as his due.

What this is saying is that if I hired you to work for me for$15 an hour and you worked for me for two hours, and I gave you$30, you aren't gonna write me a thank you note because of how gracious that I am giving you$30.

Instead, that is your wage.

That is expected.

You worked for the agreed upon amount, and you get that number after you did the work.

Look at what it says in verse 5, one of the greatest verses in all of the Bible, a verse which sparked the Protestant Reformation.

It says, and to the one who does not work, but trust him who justifies the ungodly.

His faith is counted as righteousness.

It's super clear.

The gospel isn't that God pays you back for the things that you do, that's a wage.

The gospel is you were ungodly and you believe in the one who was godly, who actually lived the perfect life on your behalf, and it's not your righteousness that you get, but instead it's his righteousness that is the Bible says credited to you.

Let me explain to you what this idea of credited means by telling you a little bit about my journey this past week.

My family went to advantage of the fall break, and we went over to Orange Beach.

Uh, and we we've never really been beach people, we've never actually really ever gone to the beach.

Hillary's been asking to go to the beach for 20 years, and so I figured that's enough time to ask.

So this year we did it.

We actually went to the beach for the very first time, and she had a great time, and the rest of us were glad that she had a really good time.

All right, and so we were there at the beach, and one of the things I've discovered really quickly at the beach is that it doesn't count for you to go to the beach unless you have evidence to prove that you were at the beach.

I know that because literally every other store is a souvenir shop all along the Gulf, right?

Everywhere you go, there's souvenir shops.

In fact, the souvenir city, they've got the market all over the place.

There's souvenir cities all up and down the beach.

And so I've got three girls in my family, my wife and my two girls, and then I've got me and my two boys.

And I'm not saying that everybody experiences this.

I'm not trying to be sexist in any way, but I will tell you what I quickly discovered at our house was that people do very differently whenever they go and shop for souvenirs based upon their gender, all right?

My girls, it's like an event, all right?

It's a long event.

They go, they look at stuff, they see stuff, and then I notice that they take pictures of stuff.

Why are you taking a picture of that?

Well, because I like it, but I don't know if I might like something later on that's even better, that I don't want to have to then have bought this, and so then I have, and so like they're comparing pictures from even the previous night, right?

I mean, it's just like this constant thing where they're like, they're and then they have a comment on every shirt and every single thing.

It's like, well, if this was a little bit different, it could be better, and it's just this, oh, this is perfect except for this, so they don't have my size, and it's just this ongoing thing.

Whereas the guys, I'm convinced the trinket section of Souvenir City is just to entertain the men while they wait on the women in their lives while they go souvenir shopping.

Because that's basically what we found ourselves like.

Did you know that you could get a hermit crab at Souvenir City?

I don't know why you need a hermit crab.

I'm convinced they only have hermit crabs there to entertain the men while their wives are looking at shirts, taking pictures of them.

Not buying any shirts, just taking pictures of them, right?

And so that's what we did.

Us boys, we would go walk around and we'd find the most random stuff ever, and that's the stuff that we would point out.

We had no intention of ever buying them at any moment.

It was just strictly for entertainment.

When we got tired of looking at all of the various things that we knew we weren't gonna buy, then we started trying out the stuff that we knew was way too expensive, and there's no way in the world we would ever buy, but it's cool to pass the time while the girls are going and shopping at Souvenir City.

Sure enough, I look up and my son has got these glasses on that are some very nice glasses.

I'm talking like$200 for these pair of glasses, and he's like, Dad, I look cool, don't I?

I'm like, you do look cool.

You better put those down because if you drop them, that's a lot more money than you have.

He's like, No, that's okay, I'll I'll buy it with my money.

Here's the problem.

He's just getting into the whole bank account thing.

He hasn't quite learned the idea of purchasing power, all right?

In his mind, if he has money in his bank account, that means you can buy whatever it is that you want to buy.

The problem is, I went and helped him set up his bank account.

He has a total of$32 in his account.

Now, don't tell him he thinks he's rich, okay?

But he's not, all right?

And so these$200 pair of glasses cannot be bought for$32.

Now, I did not do this, but let's just act hypothetically like I did.

If I was to go and pull out my Bank of America app in that moment, and I was to go online and I was to make a transfer, and I took all of my money out of my account and I put it all into my son's account, it would transfer immediately.

That's the benefit of the Bank of America that I've got, okay?

And here's what's cool about that.

At that moment, he would go from having$32 in his account to now having all of my money out of my account, and he would have$332 at that moment.

And if he did, here's what he could do: he could walk up there to the counter, put those sunglasses there, use his debit card that he's never used in his life, and they would swipe it, no questions asked, give him those sunglasses, and he'd have$132 left in his account.

They would not ask him, son, how did you get this money?

Did you work for this money?

What did you do?

Uh how how long did it take you to get this?

Instead, in one singular instant, he would go from having$32 to$332 all because of a transfer.

And now all of that money was his as though it was always his and now fully and completely available for not only him to have, but for him to spend as he chooses.

I want you to understand when God says that he credits our account with his righteousness, it isn't like he looks at us and thinks, well, you deserve this much, you deserve this much, you deserve this much, and you deserve this much.

That's wages.

Instead, what it says is that he credits our account with his righteousness, and we didn't deserve any of it.

And we don't have to explain it, and we don't have to justify it, we just get to use it.

Look at what the Bible says in Romans 4, verses 7 and 8.

Romans 4:7

Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.

Let me show you this visually.

When you put your faith in Jesus, when you believe in him, when you put your trust in him, it's as though he removes the debt and the penalty that you had from your account.

You can put the image on the screen.

I want you to think about this.

Hudson, I said, had$32.

The reality is, let's just act like in these types of terms, it's not that he had$32 in his account.

Let's act like instead he was overdrawn$30,000.

Meaning he had a significant debt that he owed.

The Bible tells us that God forgives us of our sin when we put our faith in him.

That's significant because what this means is not that the debt just magically disappears, the debt is paid for by Jesus.

And the Bible says that our sins are cast out as far as the east is from the west.

What this means is that when we are forgiven, all of our sins are removed.

As great as this is, look at this, it only makes us morally neutral at this point.

The bad has been taken away.

That's an awesome thing.

That's not only what Jesus does.

When Jesus gives us his justification, his righteousness, he not only takes away our debt, but look at what he does.

He actually transfers to our account, look at the next slide, his righteousness.

It's like this instead of you having$32, you're actually overdrawn$30,000.

Jesus removes all of your$30,000 debt, and he actually put into your account$3 trillion.

And guess what?

You don't have to give an explanation as to how it got there.

You can live in light of his righteousness that has been credited to your account.

It's an unbelievable gift in every single way.

Skip down to verse 22 of Romans chapter 4.

Romans 4 · chapter mention

This invitation is not just for Abraham, but it's also given to us.

Look at what it says.

It says, that is why his faith, Abraham, was counted to him as righteousness.

But the words it was counted to him were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also.

It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead, Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

If we share in the faith of Abraham, who believed and trusted in God based solely on his word, then we will have righteousness accredited to our account, not our righteousness, but instead the righteousness of God.

Here's why this is so significant.

We bring nothing to the table.

That may be hard for some of you to hear who grew up very religious.

You notice that lady, I love it.

She said, Well, my bat, you gotta be baptized too.

Like kind of add-on, just like a throw in there.

What is your add-on that you would also say?

You gotta believe in Jesus that he died on the cross for your sins.

Well, and you gotta go to this class.

And you gotta make sure that you go up front and make a decision.

And that you gotta go and get baptized.

Whatever religious deed or activity along the way that you have thrown into the mix, please hear me.

Spoiler alert, those things will not save you.

It's so important that you understand this pivotal fact.

Even good routes, if it's not the route of salvation by faith and not by works, is a route that will never get you to the destination.

You can be religious and you can be, quote, good and still have eternity in hell.

In fact, the Bible says, Jesus says that I will look at so many of you and say, who will say, Lord, Lord, and I'll say, I never knew you.

Depart from me.

So how do you know for sure that you have experienced salvation?

It's it's almost like the difference between chapter 11 and chapter 7 bankruptcy.

Stay with me here for a second.

I want you to think about this.

Uh, Chapter 11 bankruptcy, I looked it up.

There's been a couple of different companies over the past few years you might recognize that have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

J.

Crew has filed for that.

GNC, Neiman Marcus, Brooks Brothers, all of these have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

As I was driving along I-10, headed back towards Houston, I saw plenty of J.

Crew stores along the way as I drove down there.

They seem to be doing just fine.

So how can they be bankrupt yet still operating?

Chapter 11 bankruptcy means this: it means that you have debts that you owe, but you need some help.

And so you declare bankruptcy.

So for a moment in time, you are relieved from having to pay all of your debts.

And then during that time, you can reorganize your company.

You can fire who you need to fire, you can hire who you need to hire, you can lay off some folks, you can do, you can set up some stores, add some stores, reorganize, whatever you need to do.

And what happens is that basically that temporary relief from having to pay your debts allows you to get your feet underneath you, and then you are responsible for paying off your debts on your own.

That's very different than chapter seven bankruptcy.

Chapter seven bankruptcy means that you have a debt that you cannot pay, and instead of you reorganizing, getting your act together, and then paying it, instead, you actually say that you are not able to pay the debt, that debt has to be paid by somebody else, and your company is dissolved and no longer exist.

Some of you along the way have thought that the Christian life is chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Isaiah 11 · chapter mention

That all you need is Jesus dying on the cross and Jesus rising from the dead as a little way to kind of help you get off your feet, and once you get a little bit of reprieve and a little bit of help along the way, then you can kind of put yourself together, you can do all that you're supposed to do, and you can go pick yourself up and pay off all of your debts and earn your way back to rightness with God.

And the reality is the Bible says the only way to salvation is chapter 7, bankruptcy.

Isaiah 7 · chapter mention

Where somebody else that's not you pays the debt for you, you cease to exist, and now all of a sudden you in your eternal debt and gratitude to the one who paid the debt for you.

Ephesians 2 8 9 says, For it is by grace you've been saved.

Through faith.

It is not from yourselves.

It is a gift of God, not by work, so that no one can boast.

You see, all of our stories are the same if we know Jesus.

The singular difference between Christianity and every other religion that ever has existed can be summed up in this phrase.

It's not about what you do.

That's what every other religion says.

Instead, it's about what Jesus has done.

That's what Christianity says.

Which is why Jesus is the hero of our movie.

Which is why Jesus is the story that we tell.

Which is why Jesus is the name that we sing about.

Which is why Jesus is the one that we serve.

I'm going to ask you to take your phones out for me.

I want to give you some points of application using the guidance from a guy named Tim Keller, who is a pastor in uh the New York area.

Uh he's retired now, but he I've really been able to be served very well from this chart that I want you to take out your phone, and if you would, it's a QR code.

If some of you have never done this before, you're about to be really cool.

All right, let me show you what this is, okay?

Take your phone out, and basically you just can take your picture app and you can put it up there, and it should prompt a code and that you just click on that link, and it's gonna take you to a document that I'm wanting you to look at not only while I walk it through with you today, but I hope can also serve you like it has served me over the years, because the idea of salvation of works and salvation by faith is something that we don't graduate from.

It's instead something that we need to remember over and over again.

Because our tendency is to assume that I get saved by faith, but then I live by works.

That's not how it works.

Instead, you're saved by faith and you get salvation continues and live out by faith.

So I'm gonna give you a few more moments.

Some of you are like, I didn't know it did this.

They have these at restaurants and stuff too.

That's what those are for.

Okay, yes, that's exactly right.

This is what this is a little QR code that helps you go to this website.

Hopefully it is working.

And if not, then maybe your neighbor can text it to you.

And please don't check the score of your fantasy team right now, okay?

Just give me a few moments as I walk this through.

I want to kind of walk through, I'm not gonna walk through all of them, but I do want to walk through a few of them.

And I want it to be a little point of application for you.

One of the things that can be said is that if you have a salvation by works, then this can be said to be true of you.

Go ahead and put the first one up.

I obey, and therefore I am accepted.

For some of you, this is exactly the church that you grew up in.

The tradition that you lived under, the assumption that you always had.

It basically goes like this is that God is up in heaven and he's got a little notepad and he's got one of those little golf tees, little bitty ones, right?

And he's just looking down.

Tick.

Oh, you said something you weren't supposed to.

Tick.

Oh, you know what?

You you should have responded there differently.

Tick.

You weren't gracious to your family there.

Tick.

Oh, that's a missed opportunity.

And he basically is giving you little tick marks all throughout the day, and he gives you a grade at the end of the day.

And so, therefore, how you feel about praying to God at the end of the day is all based upon how well you performed that day.

Because the assumption is this I am accepted as long as I obey.

It's basically a measuring contest on a constant basis.

Please hear me.

That's not what the salvation by faith is.

Instead, here's what salvation by faith says is that I am accepted, therefore I obey.

God knows all there is to know about me.

He knows all of my tick marks, the ones that I'm aware of, and he knows all the ones that I don't even know about.

And guess what?

He still says, I choose you.

Do you realize he does the same thing for you?

Please Jeremy, Christians aren't anti-good works.

It's just all about your motivation.

If you do good works to earn favor with God, then that's not what good works are.

But instead, if you recognize Ephesians 2.10, it says this for it is what does it say?

It says, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared beforehand in advance for us.

What makes Ephesians 2.10 so great is Ephesians 2.8 and 9 right before it.

For it is by grace you've been saved through faith, it's not from yourselves, is the gift of God, not by works, that no one can boast.

And here's what I can know because God has accepted me, I know that he's got a purpose and a plan for my life.

I know that he actually wants to use me, and he even knows how much of a liability that I am.

And so therefore, I gladly want to serve him because I don't deserve what he has given to me.

Let me show you another one idea of salvation by works.

My motivation is based on fear and insecurity.

I just never know where I stand.

It's just this constant, like, what is gonna happen to me when I die?

I don't I don't know how I'm gonna add up.

Instead, what the Bible tells us and what Romans chapter 4 is trying to show us is this is that my motivation is instead, for faith, go to the next one, is based on grateful joy.

Romans 4 · chapter mention

This is why you can see people who have walked through major difficulties and struggles in their life, yet they have a smile on their face.

Why?

Because their motivation is the fact that Jesus has saved them, and therefore there is nothing on earth that this world can throw at them.

I can change that.

Their joy to serve, it's a joy to give, it's a joy to know about Jesus and all that he has done.

Look at the next one.

The next one works is I obey in order to get things from God.

Have you ever said this?

Why isn't this working?

I had a little pity party moment on the beach this past week.

I had some time when I was sitting there thinking and thinking through stuff, and I had this comment to God.

God, why are you making me walk through this right now?

Why are you making me deal with this?

Don't you know?

Don't you know how far?

Why now?

Why are you having and I had this little moment as though somehow basically God owes me.

Instead, here's what salvation by faith says is that I obey in order to get God to delight and to resemble Him.

You see, here's what people, even in our own city, will tell you is that look, if you obey, then you're gonna get blessed with riches, you're gonna get blessed with health, you're gonna get blessed by having material possessions in your life.

Here's what salvation by faith will say.

If I don't get any money, if I don't get any health, if I don't get any possessions and I get God, I get the lottery.

It's enough.

It is so good.

And in light of that, I know that ultimately I begin to resemble him and start looking more like him, even if I wasn't intending to.

Look at the next one, salvation by works.

When my circumstances go wrong, I'm angry at God or myself.

Because I believe anyone who is good deserves a comfortable life.

One of the hardest things as a parent is to watch your kids suffer.

It's to watch your kids go through trials, it's to watch your kids fail.

It's to see them walking into something that you know is gonna be tough.

And all you want to do is like kind of jump in and like remove them from that.

You want to kind of like make the hard for them.

But we also know part of maturing are these trials.

Part of growing, not only in life, but in your faith, is when you walk through seasons when your faith is when your faith is challenged, when your faith is a struggle.

We're gonna talk about this more next week, but suffering becomes the very means by which endurance produces character and character produces faith, and faith produces hope, and hope produces peace and joy.

You see, and I know that ultimately, because Jesus has paid the greatest penalty of all, which is my sins on the cross, I know there is absolutely nothing that I could go through on this side of eternity that will take me out.

Look at the next one.

The idea of faith and my circumstances go wrong.

I struggle, but I know my punishment fell on Jesus.

And while he may allow this for my training, he'll exercise his fatherly love within my trial.

The idea of salvation by works, look at what it says about prayer.

My prayer life consists largely of petition and it only heats up when I'm in need.

My main purpose in prayer is controlling the environment.

Why do you need to pray if you've got it figured out?

What I have found is that those seasons of my life when I am the most needy upon the Lord is also a time whenever I am in most in great relationship with him.

Because he's reminding me I've always needed him.

Whenever you have salvation by faith, though, look at what it produces.

My prayer life instead consists of generous stretches of praise and adoration.

My main purpose in prayer is fellowship with him.

We had to go to Orange Beach as a family in order to get away from all of the craziness and the activities so that our family could have a family meal and look at each other for a couple of hours.

We know the importance of making sure that we spend time in each other's presence because presence produces relationship.

Folks, can I tell you, whenever you realize what God has done for you on the cross of Jesus Christ, prayer becomes something that you long for.

Or you want to be with Jesus.

You want to spend time with him.

And you may have to force yourself out of all the distractions that would pull you away, but you can get that time where you can realize he is all you need.

Last one, there's a couple of others, but it's the last one I'll mention.

My self-view swings between two poles.

If and when I am living up to my standards, I feel confident, but then I am prone to be proud and unsympathetic to failing people.

If and when I am not living up to standards, I feel insecure and inadequate, I lack confidence and I feel like a failure.

Whenever it's salvation by works, I look at you and I see the fact that you aren't pulling your weight.

I see the fact that you can't get over this issue of addiction or issue that you're walking through, and I simply say to you, What is your problem?

Why can't you be like me?

Like I mean, I don't know why it's so hard.

Just be more disciplined.

Just do this, and I look down on others.

Either that or the enemy begins to speak lies to me, and so therefore, if I go to my group and my group begins to start sharing, and people are sharing prayer requests, or people are offering up insights into God's word and how he's speaking to them, I begin to realize that I can never say that.

So I'm just not gonna go at all.

I'm not gonna be around that and embarrass or expose myself.

But look, if my salvation instead is by faith, look at what it says there.

My self-view is not based upon being a moral achiever.

In Christ, I am simultaneously sinful and yet accepted in him.

I am so guilty he had to die for me.

And I am so loved he was willing to die for me.

This leads me to deeper humility and confidence at the same time.

Let me close with uh something that I've shared with you in the past, but I'll share with you again that I say to my kids when I put them to sleep.

I'll put my hand on their heads and I will look them in the eyes and I say, Can you see my eyes?

They say yes.

I say, Can you see that I see your eyes?

They say yes.

I say, Do you know that I love you?

They say yes.

When you do good, they say yes.

When you do bad, yes.

Who else loves you like that?

God.

More than me?

Yes.

Rest in that love.

Would you bow your heads and would you close your eyes all across this room?

If you're watching me online, I invite you to do the same.

I'm gonna ask that no one be moving around.

Please just give me a few more moments of the service of your time.

I believe this is the most important moment of the service because there are people who have bought into this idea that you're almost there.

Like if you just do a little more, you'll be good.

Like if you just pray a little harder, you'll be good.

If you just complete this class, you'll be good.

And the reality is this, you're not good.

But Jesus is good, and if you will today place your faith and your trust in him, you can have his goodness.

You will leave here knowing for certain that you didn't deserve it.

That is what makes it grace.

Today I want to invite you to pray a simple prayer that can change your life.

It's a prayer of salvation where you express to God your desire to receive his goodness.

It's a prayer that goes something like this: pray it with me.

If you've never given your life to Jesus and right now you want to do that, just say these words, dear God.

I want to be good.

I receive your goodness in my life.

I believe you died on the cross for me, and that you rose from the dead, and I receive you into my life to be my Lord and to be my savior.

Would you continue to keep your heads bowed and your eyes closed?

I want you to know that if you just prayed that prayer with me, the Bible says, just like all of that money immediately and simultaneously was credited in my son's account in the illustration that I used before.

The Bible says that just now, when you prayed that prayer, asking Jesus to come into your life simultaneously, all of the righteousness of God is yours.

We want to celebrate that.

We believe that is worthy of celebration.

And so, in just a moment, we're gonna have a time of invitation.

I want you to look up if that's you that just prayed that prayer and see.

We've got staff members that are in the front and on the sides.

Just see where the closest one is to you.

And whenever we all stand up after I pray, I want to ask that you go immediately and find them and tell them that you just gave your life to Jesus, you just got rich in the righteousness of God.

Others, if you need to come and join United City, I want you to know that we are a church that's gonna all be about Jesus.

We believe that Jesus is the hero of our movies.

We believe that we are extras at best in his story.

And so, therefore, everything that we do, everything that we say, everything that we will be about will be about Jesus.

And if God is leading you to be a part of a Jesus church, then I want to invite you to come and join United City.

You can begin that process as we begin to process new members.

Some of you have completed it.

This is your chance to come forward and make it public.

Others of you need to be baptized like these two that we saw.

Maybe you've come to a realization in your own life and in your own story that you need to be baptized as an expression of your faith.

Would you come and let us schedule your baptism?

Maybe others just need prayer today.

Every week, we open up this altar as a place that you can receive prayer.

I'm gonna pray, and after I pray, I'm gonna ask you to stand and I'm gonna ask you to move.

Father, I ask that you would move in these moments.

Call people to yourself.

Lead them to respond as you are leading them to right now.

It's in Jesus' name that I pray.

Amen.

God really is our everlasting God.

He's so faithful in times of trial, in times of triumph.

He is here for you, he's here for me.

It's an amazing truth that we can cling to today, that God is with us.

You do not navigate this season of your life, no matter what you may be going through alone.

The Bible tells us that God is never too far away for us to reach out to him.

In fact, it tells us that we need to consistently reach out to him, knowing that he is our ever-present help in time of need.

He has fearfully and wonderfully made you and I, and we have the opportunity today to respond to his blessings, his grace, and his love for us in a unique and meaningful way.

So today, if you heard that message about God being our everlasting God, and you would like to make Jesus the everlasting God of your life by placing your faith and trust in him, you can text the word you see next to the number 55498.

There is nothing that we would love to do as a staff more than to hear your story, hear about how Jesus is moving in your life, even how you navigate the season, your next step, maybe whatever God may be leading you to do in your future, whether that be baptism or joining the church, maybe jumping into our growth track process.

I just want to let you know we have been where you are.

And it is so, so important that you allow us the opportunity to link arms with you on your faith journey, coming alongside of you right where God has you, uh to disciple you, equip you, and encourage you in your faith.

We're so, so thankful for how God is moving in your life.

We're so thankful that uh He has given you a purpose.

We're so thankful that uh that purpose is being made known more and more in your life.

If there's anything that we can do for you, we want you to reach out to us again.

You can text UC Next to 55498.

We're so thankful to bring you this service.

I pray that you have an awesome week.

As we look ahead to this next week, I want you to cling to the truth that God is our everlasting God in times of trial and times of triumph.

And as we look ahead to this next week, I just want to pray a blessing over you and your family this morning.

Lord Jesus, we're so thankful for you.

We're so thankful for who you've called us to be.

God, we're so thankful that you have met us exactly where we are at our greatest moment of need.

God, we're so thankful for the grace that you have extended to us even right now on this Sunday.

God, thank you for the word that Pastor Chris just gave us.

Thank you for your holy Bible.

God, I pray that your word would be written on our hearts and would be so close to our tongues that we speak it throughout our week.

God, whatever we may come in contact with, whatever we may be going through this week, I pray that you would meet us exactly where we are with grace and mercy.

Would we glorify you in all that we say and all that we do?

It's in Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

United City Church, I'm thankful for you.

We will see you next Sunday.

God bless.