Living Like You're Saved

Good morning.

Let's begin our worship with a word of prayer.

God, thank you for this morning and thank you for this portion of your family that we get to gather with and sing songs and worship.

You and Holy Spirit, we just invite you in here this morning.

Just give us an attitude of worship and enhance our worship so that it is pleasing to the Father.

And Father, thank you for your son, jesus, who gave us the ultimate example of love and sacrifice and kindness and goodness, and it's in his name we pray.

Amen, redeemed, how I love to proclaim it Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, redeemed through his infinite mercy, his child, and forever I am Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed, redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, redeemed, redeemed, redeemed, redeemed His child, and forever I am Redeemed and so happy in Jesus.

No language, my rapture can tell.

I know that the light of His presence With me doth continually dwell.

Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed, redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, redeemed, redeemed, redeemed, redeemed His child and forever I am.

I know I shall see in His beauty, the King in whose law I delight, who lovingly guardeth my footsteps and giveth me songs in the night.

Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb Redeemed, redeemed, redeemed, redeemed His child and forever I am.

Amen, blessed assurance.

Jesus is mine.

Oh, what a foretaste of glory, divine heir of salvation, purchase of God, born of his spirit, washed in his blood.

This is my story.

This is my song praising my.

Savior all the day long.

This is my story.

This is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.

Perfect submission, all is at rest.

I and my Savior am happy and blessed, Watching and waiting, looking above, Filled with His goodness, lost in His love.

This is my story.

This is my song, Praising my Savior all the day long.

This is my story.

This is my song, praising my Savior all the day long.

As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you.

You alone are my heart's desire and I long to worship you.

You alone are my strength, my shield.

To you alone may my spirit yield.

You alone are my heart's desire and I long to worship you.

I want you more than gold or silver.

Only you can satisfy.

You alone are the real joy giver and the apple of my eye.

You alone are my strength, my shield.

To you alone may my spirit yield.

You alone are my heart's desire and I long to worship you.

You're my friend and you are my brother, even though you are a king.

I love you more than any other, so much more than anything.

You alone are my strength, my shield.

To you alone may my spirit yield.

You alone are my heart's desire and I long to worship you.

All right.

The scripture reading today comes from 1 John 5, verses 11 through 13.

1 John 5:11–13

It says and this is the testimony God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.

Whoever has the Son has life.

Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.

Bow with me, please.

Father, we thank you for this day to get together.

We thank you for your love for us.

We're mindful of Derek and we pray that you be with the teams of surgeons that are going to be operating on him.

God, we pray that your presence will be there in that room as well and that you will help the family feel your peace and comfort, and that you will be with those doctors and all of those who are working.

And, god, we pray for a successful outcome.

Thank you for your son, jesus, and thank you for loving us.

In Jesus' name and all God's people said amen.

Jesus was a tolerant individual.

I mean, he was tolerant with the apostles.

He put up with them.

He was tolerant with the Pharisees, who didn't know who he was.

He was tolerant with all the people that he healed and fed, even though, in many cases, their motives were wrong.

He's tolerant of you and me because of some of the stupid stuff that we do.

He was known as always being tolerant.

Yes, because of some of the stupid stuff that we do.

He was known as always being tolerant.

Yes, I didn't bite it.

If the juice gets on me, I'll start crying during my sermon.

Okay, here we go there.

There, we don't have to worry about the pepper juice on the ghost pepper there, we don't have to worry about the pepper juice on the ghost pepper.

If it happens, it happens.

I'll go out in a blaze of glory if that ghost pepper gets on me.

But anyway, who's heckling me?

On my last Sunday, boo, come on Now, I'm afraid to touch you.

Now my eyes are Thanks.

But Jesus was tolerant with a lot of people.

But there was one area in which he wasn't tolerant.

There was one area where he would be considered a bigot and narrow-minded and biased today, because Jesus loudly and unapologetically declared that he was the king, that he was the savior and that he was Lord and that there was no way to be saved except through him.

That's a pretty intolerant statement.

That you know what.

You're not saved through your good works.

You're not saved through your religion.

You're not saved through your political beliefs.

You're not saved through your intelligence.

You're not saved through religious tradition.

The only way you can be saved is through me.

Now, the apostle John, is that water for me?

No, it's okay.

No, you're okay.

No, the Apostle, you may have to pour it on your dad's head here in a minute if it starts bubbling up.

But the Apostle John was just as adamant.

Apostle John begins the gospel by saying this In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.

And later he says the Word became flesh and dwelled among us and that the Word is grace and truth.

And basically John begins the Gospel and he just declares listen, jesus is the Word, jesus is God, jesus is the way that you're saved.

And that's what he said.

He didn't just open it up for debate, he just declared it.

And then later he writes a letter.

He writes three letters, but he writes 1, john, and he writes 1 John and he's writing dealing with a false teaching in that church, there, where there are a group of people who claim to be Christians, who say Jesus really didn't come in the flesh, jesus really wasn't who he said he was, he didn't come in the flesh and John called those people the Antichrist.

And he writes first John.

He says listen, I saw Jesus.

I walked with Jesus, I talked with Jesus, I ate with Jesus, I listened with Jesus.

I saw Jesus hanging on the cross.

I saw Jesus in that empty tomb.

I saw Jesus feeding thousands.

I know who he says he is.

And then he continues in the gospel.

He says Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.

He is the bread of life, he is the light of the world, he is the good shepherd.

And he just says I'm telling you, jesus is the only way.

And then he says this, after he talks about who Jesus is.

He ends, first John 5, with this he says I've written all of this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.

I want you to go to bed tonight knowing that if you don't wake up on earth, you wake up in heaven.

And so when I was, you know, the last couple of weeks, thinking man, what's the last thing?

I want these people to know, these people that I love, no, I want you to know that you can know that you don't have to live with your shame.

You don't have to live with your guilt.

You don't have to live with the fear of death.

You don't have to live with the fear of death.

You don't have to live with the fear of the future, because we have Jesus and we can know that, no matter what happens, we can have eternal life.

You don't have to live feeling like a failure.

You don't have to live feeling like a loser.

You don't have to live hopelessness.

Because of Jesus, we can know we have eternal life.

So my message is this Live like you're saved.

Stop living in guilt.

If you're a child of God.

Stop living in shame.

Stop wallowing in your past regrets and failures.

Stop living in fear, saying, oh, I hope I do enough when I die.

I just hope I can get pulled through the food hole of heaven.

Start living like you're saved.

And so we're going to talk about how to do that this morning.

But to do that, I need some volunteers.

So, chloe, gene, I got you a stool, gene.

Just, norma, tommy, don't sit down.

Are you done counting?

Well, I need you up here, all right?

So how do you know that you're saved?

And so we're going to look at a couple of things, okay, how to live like you know you're saved.

The first one is this I want you to see God's love, chloe.

You're number one, gene.

You're number two, shane, I think you're number three.

Now, chloe, whenever I say the phrase see God's love, here's what I want you to say God loves love.

Here's what I want you to say God loves you.

All right.

So you need to see God's love.

Behave yourself Right.

You see God's love.

That's the beginning of knowing that you're saved.

Because if I don't see God's love, I'm never going to understand how amazing his love is.

From Genesis to Revelation, the theme of the Bible is that he wants you to see God's love.

Let's get a little bit more enthusiastic.

Can we show a little something?

Give me an L, give me an O, give me a V, give me an E.

But it's important that you see God's love.

And I know you're saying, woody, I blew it.

And I know you have, because I've blown it too, and you say, woody, you don't know what I've done.

Yes, I do.

This is Guernsey County.

I know everything you've done.

But the bottom line is, it doesn't matter what you've done, as long as you learn to see God's love.

You need to see God's love in your sin, in your despair.

You need to see God's love In your regrets.

You need to see God's love.

So the beginning of living a life like you're saved is to see God's love.

And you know where you see God's love.

The beginning of seeing God's love is on the cross.

But not only do you need to see God's love?

Secondly, you need to affirm your faith, and whenever you hear the phrase affirm your faith, I want you to go.

Lord, I believe, affirm your faith, I believe, lord, I believe.

Yeah, yeah, alright, so once we see God's love on the cross, lord, i's love on the cross, on the cross, get up there.

Once we see God's love on the cross, that will help us affirm our faith.

You've heard me say before that everybody has faith.

Even an atheist has faith.

An atheist has faith in their atheism.

You have faith in something.

Some people have their faith in their good work.

Some people put their faith in their religion.

Some people have their faith in their good work.

Some people put their faith in their religion.

Some people put their faith in their intelligence.

Some people put their faith in their religious traditions.

But Jesus says this in John 14, 6, I'm the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father through me, and I want you to know that's good news.

I don't have to be good enough to get to heaven.

All I need to do is affirm my faith in Jesus after I see God's love on the cross, and so I want to encourage you that once I see God's love and I see how much I see that him hanging on the cross, I realize that I can trust him.

And once I affirm my faith in Jesus, I can relax in grace.

I don't have to live a life of guilt and shame, even though I have a shameful past, because I trust Jesus.

I affirm my faith in Jesus because he was good enough for me, because I couldn't be good enough.

So once I see God's love and affirm our faith, that's good, that's good.

You know that faith is going to lead me.

Once I decide to become a disciple and affirm my faith, that's going to lead me to be a disciple and it's going to lead me to want to be baptized into Christ.

So the way I live my life, like I'm saved, is, after I affirm my faith, I'm pushing the wrong.

Yeah, good, you venture into the water.

Shane, whenever you hear the phrase venture into the water, you just go splash.

So you venture into the water.

So you see God's love, I affirm my faith and once I trust Jesus and Jesus says, hey, I want you to be baptized, I venture into the water.

A few weeks ago we looked at baptism when we looked at the Ethiopian eunuch.

And we saw that Philip helped the Ethiopian eunuch First.

He helped him see God's love.

Philip helped the Ethiopian eunuch First.

He helped him see God's love.

And once the Ethiopian eunuch saw the love of God and what Jesus did for him, he was ready to affirm his faith.

That's okay too.

And after he affirmed our faith, after he affirmed his faith, yeah, the eunuch said here is water.

Why can't I be baptized?

And him and Philip ventured into the water.

What'd he do?

What'd he do?

Okay.

What'd you do?

Oh, okay.

Now a lot of people say that baptism is a work.

You know you shouldn't.

You don't have any.

It's a work.

Well, it is a work, but it's a work of God.

I thought I had a scripture up there.

Yeah, I do, it is a work of God.

Read this with me, please, for you were buried with Christ when you were baptized, and with him you were raised in new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.

You were dead because of your sins.

What can a dead person do?

Nothing.

You were dead because of your sins and because of your sinful nature was not cut away?

Nothing.

You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not cut away, then God made you alive in Christ.

Baptism is a work, but when you venture into the water, god does the work.

God washes away your sins, not because of the water, but because of the blood of Jesus.

When you venture into the water, god is the one who empowers you with the Holy Spirit.

And once I see the love of God and I affirm my faith in him and that leads me to be buried in baptism and I venture into the water and I realize that my sins are washed away, then I can live like I'm saved.

Does that make sense?

But as long as it's, oh, I better be good enough, or I better do everything just right, or I won't get to heaven.

You won't everything just right or I won't get to heaven.

You won't Because it's Jesus that saves.

So once I see God's love and affirm my faith and venture into the water, I can live my life exalting in God's grace.

Exalt just means to rejoice.

I can exalt in God's grace.

Exalt just means to rejoice.

I can exalt in God's grace.

All right, Norm, are you ready?

Every time you hear exalt in God's grace, you're going to say amazing grace.

How sweet the sound.

So you exalt in God's grace Ooh, you're good girl.

You go girl and you see how it's all tied together.

You see God's love on the cross and you affirm your faith in Jesus and you venture into the water and when you experience what God does, then you come out and you exult in God's grace.

The good news about God's grace that it doesn't just cleanse you one time, because I know you're going to find this hard to believe, cliff I still sin.

But the blood of Jesus you can exalt in God's grace.

Of Jesus you can exalt in God's grace because it continually washes away your sins.

Do you understand that when you venture into the water and you're baptized into Christ according to Ephesians 1, when God looks at you, he sees you as blameless and perfect, not because you're blameless and perfect, but because he loves you so much that he sent Jesus to die on the cross to pay the price for our sins.

And when I understand that, I can exult in God's grace because I know I can't save myself.

So the blood of Jesus continually cleanses my sins, as every day I affirm my faith in him and every day when I affirm my faith, that helps me see God's love Every day, and the more I see God's love, love I exalt in God's grace.

See, I can exalt in God's grace because it not only saves me.

Let's pick it up a little bit, normal, okay.

God's grace not only saves me, but it sustains me, it keeps me going.

And here's the other thing the more I exalt in God's grace there you go, girl the less I want to sin.

Because the more I exalt in God's grace, I see God's love, which strengthens my faith.

And I affirm my faith after I ventured into the water.

Does that make sense?

Just live like you're saved, because we are.

If I've done those things, live like I'm saved.

Last thing Don't ever quit.

Whenever, whenever you hear, don't ever quit.

I just want you to run in place and say let's keep going.

We need oxygen.

Please.

Nurses, stand by.

Oh, here we go, there, we go, there we go.

You need to get loose.

I don't want you to pull anything.

So it's important that, no matter how life gets, you don't ever quit.

Okay, it's important, you are quick.

Yeah, satan doesn't like it when we see God's love.

Satan doesn't like it when we affirm our faith.

Satan doesn't like it when we venture into the water.

Satan doesn't like it when we exult in God's grace every day.

So he is like a roaring line, the Bible says, trying to destroy us.

But even though he's trying to destroy you, and no matter how many times you fail and no matter how many times you fall and you mess up as a Christian, if you just confess those sins and keep going, the only way Satan can win is if you quit.

So don't ever quit.

All right, don't ever quit.

If I don't ever quit, then I will be able to exalt in God's grace, because in those hard times and in those trials and in those temptations, that's when I'm really going to see God's love, because he promises to never leave me and he gives me the Holy Spirit to intercede and empower me.

And listen, I know life is hard and I know life is unfair, but don't ever quit.

I know life is a mess, but don't ever quit.

I know that life's not fair mess, but don't ever quit.

I know that, that, that that something, life's not fair, but don't ever quit.

And I know that that life is unjust, but don't ever quit, don't ever quit, don't ever quit, don't ever quit, don't ever quit, don't ever quit, don't ever quit, don't ever quit, don't ever quit, don't ever quit, don't ever quit, don't ever quit, don't ever quit.

That made me tired.

So you say what do I do, woody?

I still feel guilty.

I'm a Christian.

I'm still afraid of what's going to happen to me when I die.

Well, peter says to entrust yourself to God, our faithful creator.

In other words, peter says in trials, affirm your faith.

Paul says when you're buried, in you to be buried in Christ, in baptism.

In other words, paul says venture into the water.

The psalmist says in tough times, taste and see that the Lord is good.

In other words, see God's love.

John the Baptist says behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

In other words, exalting God's grace.

And Jesus says I know you're going to have trouble in this world, but be of good cheer, I've overcome the world, don't ever quit.

I want to go do this.

I love this church and being your preacher has been one of the greatest joys of my life.

And if there's one thing I want you to do, I want you to just relax in God's grace.

Just relax.

I know we're going to sin, but he's going to keep forgiving us as we look to him and we strive to be the disciple he wants to be.

And I'm not, you know, relaxing God's grace.

And I'm not saying we don't obey, but we obey for a totally different purpose.

I grew up in a church where you obeyed to try to get to heaven and you better be good enough or you won't make it.

But now I obey because I'm going to heaven, because I saw God's love and I affirmed my faith in Jesus and I ventured into the water and finally, after years, after being baptized, I finally learned it's not about me, it was about what Jesus did and I was able to exalt in his grace.

So don't ever quit.

Don't ever quit.

Jesus didn't come to die on this cross so you could live your life in misery.

Jesus didn't come to this earth and die so you could live a life of guilt.

Jesus didn't come and die so you could live a life of fear and hopelessness.

God sent Jesus so you could be what you were created to be, and so you can live a life relaxing in the fact that you are saved because of the goodness of God.

You don't have to live in shame, but you can live in hope.

You don't have to live in fear, but you can live in faith.

You don't have to live in fear, but you can live in faith.

You don't have to live dreading death, but you can look forward to heaven.

He wants you to live like you're saved.

How do you do that?

See God's love, affirm your faith, venture into the water, exalt in God's grace and don't ever quit.

Thank you guys.

Give them a hand.

That's how you can know you're saved.

Here's your homework.

Your homework is this when are you?

Circle what you need to do.

For some of us it may be you know what I need to see God's love.

I need to understand that, no matter what I've done and I've messed up and I've done some terrible things God still loves me.

No matter what I've done, he still loves me and some of us right now need to see God's love.

So you need to circle that.

I need to see that he loves me in spite of what I am and what I've done.

For some of us, we may understand that God loves us, but we need to affirm our faith in him.

Some of us are still putting our faith in being in the right church or doing the right things, or in our religion or in our good works, and it's not going to work.

Jesus is pretty intolerant.

He says there's only one way to get to heaven and that's through putting your faith in me.

And some of us need to say you know what?

I've been trusting the wrong thing.

For others, maybe it's time for us to venture into the water.

We say, yeah, I trust Jesus, but I'm not sure about that.

It's time to just venture into the water.

For some of us, we just need to rejoice in God's grace and stop trying to do it ourselves.

Just get up every morning and say Amazing grace, how sweet the sound.

Just relax.

And for some of us who walked in here this morning, ready to give up on a relationship or give up on a life or give up on trying to be good enough and maybe you were raised in a church that was legalistic it's time for you to just say you know what.

I'm not quitting.

I'm not quitting.

God's sustaining grace is going to get me through when God looks at you.

If you've been baptized into Christ, when God looks at you, he sees perfection.

That still blows my mind.

But if you've got a problem with it, you've got to take it up with Paul, because that's what he wrote in Ephesians 1.

I beg you, live your life this week like you're saved.

Thank you, amen, and one more, everybody all together, woody.

The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord lift his countenance upon you and give you peace.

And give you peace.

The Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you and be gracious.

The Lord be gracious.

Lord be gracious, gracious unto you, amen, amen, amen.

Amen, amen, amen.

God bless everybody.

Have a great week.