Scripture referenced 11 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Romans 1:16 anchor verse: 'I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek'
16 For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes; for the Jew first, and also for the Greek.
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Keep this verse
1 Corinthians 1:18
the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but the power of God to those who are being saved
18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.
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1 Timothy 1:15
'the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners'
15 The saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
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Isaiah 30:15
'in repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it'
15 For thus said the Lord Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel, “You will be saved in returning and rest. Your strength will be in quietness and in confidence.” You refused,
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Psalm 23:1
offered as an Old Testament gospel example: 'the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want'
1 Yahweh is my shepherd: I shall lack nothing.
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Jude 23
'save others, snatching them out of the fire', cited alongside a response about God's plan for salvation
23 and some save, snatching them out of the fire with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.
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Acts 16:31
'believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved'
31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”
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1 Corinthians 15:3-5
'Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, was buried, was raised on the third day, and appeared to Cephas and then to the twelve and then to five hundred'
3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
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1 John 5:12
'he who has the Son has life, he who does not have the Son does not have life'
12 He who has the Son has the life. He who doesn’t have God’s Son doesn’t have the life.
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John 3:16
cited on exclusivity and inclusivity: 'whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life'
16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
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Romans 1:17
'the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, the righteous by faith shall live'
17 For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”
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Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Ray opened the morning by setting aside his planned message on Luke's version of the Lord's Prayer and returning to something he had preached at First B almost exactly seven years earlier, on February 16, 2016. The question he put to the congregation was simple: what is the gospel in ten words or less? He gathered answers from the first service by text, let them pile up, and then walked through them one by one.
What was said
The reason the question matters, Pastor Ray said, comes straight out of Romans. Paul wrote that he was not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. That word "unto" is directional, moving forward. And the phrase "those who are being saved" is also progressive, pointing to something that does not stop at the moment of belief but continues in sanctification. So the gospel is not just a one-time transaction. It is the ongoing power that saves and then transforms.
He brought in a quote from C. S. Lewis, which he read carefully from a longer passage: by trying to translate doctrine into common speech, we discover how much we actually understand it ourselves. Failure to translate sometimes comes from not knowing the vernacular, but more often it exposes the fact that we do not exactly know what we mean. The vernacular is the real test. That is why the assignment is ten words, not a theology paper.
He traced the question back through the Old Testament before turning to the congregation's answers. Isaiah thirty, he said, gives something close to an Old Testament gospel: "In repentance and rest is your salvation. In quietness and trust is your strength." The Lord is my shepherd captures trust in God. Both are true, but neither names Jesus, and that name matters to the New Testament gospel.
Then he read through the responses. They ranged from one word, "Jesus," to full sentences. "But God" came up more than once, pointing to the mercy that interrupts human failure. "Jesus offers rest" came up. "At the cross, Jesus reconciled holy God and sinful man." "He who has the Son has life, he who does not have the Son does not have life." "Faith in Jesus is enough to be forgiven and transformed," where received points to salvation and transformed points to sanctification. One person sent in simply, "Truth," and Pastor Ray noted it was the same person who had sent that same word seven years ago.
Bob Wells sent in a longer, precise answer that Pastor Ray read in full, noting that precision sometimes does trump brevity. Bob's response walked through the incarnation, the substitutionary death, the burial, the resurrection, the witnesses, the ascension, and Christ's present intercession, and then landed on 1 John 5:12: "He who has the Son has life." Pastor Ray said that if anyone is worried about the exclusivity of the gospel, they should sit with how inclusive "whosoever" actually is.
He closed the message at Romans 1:17, the phrase "the righteous by faith shall live." He pointed out that the words "by faith" sit in the middle of the sentence and can grammatically go in either direction. The righteous one by faith: that is justification, being declared righteous the moment you place your trust in God. The righteous by faith shall live: that is sanctification, walking out what you believe, being transformed over time. Both readings are true, and neither cancels the other.
The homework he gave the room was to work out their own ten-word gospel and send it to him, and then to sit with a harder question: given that God has declared you righteous and given you His Spirit, how does your life actually reveal God's righteousness? The service moved from there into the Lord's Supper.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Ray talked about C. S. Lewis's idea that if you cannot put your faith into plain, ordinary language, you may not fully understand it or truly believe it. Do you agree with that? Why or why not?
- Isaiah 30:15 says, 'In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength,' and then adds, 'but you would have none of it.' Where do you see that same resistance showing up in your own life?
and 3 more questions in the guide
Read the full transcript 6,963 words
Ray McDanielGood morning, everybody. How are you? Would you stand with us and we're gonna sing hymn number three thirty seven, Nothing But The Blood. Catch my breath there. How about beneath the cross of Jesus?
Hymn number three twenty. If you know this one, sing out. I I I know it but I might need your help. Amen. Y'all can have a seat.
Thank you, Judy for picking the songs out. That is a ministry in itself. So good and so pertinent to what's going on. If we tell the truth and and hymns tell the truth, then we will agree with each other. It's really, really good.
Announcements, there are lot of em today. Get comfortable. There are a lot of em today. Monday nights at First B is happening. That happens tomorrow night.
It's on. Felix and Guadalupe are making the meal. So that's gonna be great. Music is the band, so it's gonna be about like it always is. Message is gonna be Carl from Mark, and it's really, really, really good passage from Jesus.
He's going up to Tyre and Sidon and you know, the the prophets rail against Tyre and Sidon for some reason in the Old Testament and what Jesus finds when he goes there is that they accept him. It's so good. So good. Monday night at first B is happening. Awana happens at the same time.
If you want to make a meal sometime for either Monday night or for the connect hour, just let us know. You can sign up in the fellowship hall. The Word Retreat is happening. That's February twenty third through twenty sixth. So it is happening.
I mentioned last week that I was going and somebody that was in charge said, You better register. So I did. You can do that. It's pretty easy to do actually. But Matt Litzman is the guy who knows more about it than anybody else at this church.
So February twenty third to twenty sixth. Don't let money be stopping you but $200 is the cost. The ladies have a fellowship on Thursday night. Sisters Saved by Grace, 6PM in the fellowship hall. They eat together.
They pray together. They talk about life and they study God's word together. It's a really good group. 06:00 on Thursday nights. There is a women's retreat and I had been told to express the urgency of registering for this one too.
Last day to register is next Sunday. But Moss Avery Lodge, Ryrie, Idaho, $150. You can bring a dish to share, she says. But you can sign up with Nancy T or just in the church office. That'll be good.
Our high school ministry here is a combined effort with various other churches in town. We they call it Ascent, student Ascent and that's a high school ministry, 06:30PM, Thursday nights. It started back up again last Thursday. And it's going great. Pray for high schoolers worldwide.
But pray for high schoolers in this valley. This is not an easy place to grow up. Would you agree? So it's a great place to be, but it's not an easy place to grow up. So if you would, 06:30PM, Thursday evenings, they'll be there.
There's a young adult Bible study that Erin Anderson has been leading for some time now. It bounces around from house to house on this side of the the mountains. And she's from the other side of the mountains. They have this 06:30 in the evening, Sunday nights. Location changes.
But if you want to be a part of that, let her know. The gathering. If gathering. You'll know more about it the closer we get to it. This is something that we have been a part of this or some part of it for the last three years, I think.
And this is March third and fourth. You can sign up at jacksonholewomensbiblestudy.com. That's a good time. And this one's Nick is gonna do one, and then Josh is gonna do one, and I think we're gonna wrap them up.
Speaker 2Good morning. Hey. So, you all have probably heard of Billy Graham. His grandson, Will Graham, is coming to Idaho Falls in September. And leading up to that, we've been selected as one of the churches that can host preparation classes to get people excited, informed, and also ready to serve too.
Because at the actual rally over in Idaho Falls in September, you can, volunteer to be one of the people that prays with somebody if they give their life to the Lord, or even just, get prepared to be able to share or bring your friend. So, if you look up there, there's two different opportunities that we have here. March 3 from 10AM to noon, in this room, one of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association leaders will be in here, and kinda get us ready, find out how we can get involved, how we can be praying. They're asking that we pray for 10 people that we wanna invite to the the rally, and it's a good way to to witness to those friends and neighbors that you've been praying for for a long time. That's the kind of the church briefing.
And then the real ones I really want everybody to show up to is the Christian Life and Witness courses, May fourth, eleventh, and eighteenth from seven to nine here in the building as well. They'll also be teaching those, and it's a a great way to to strengthen your faith, help you to be able to reach out and, reach out to your neighbors. But it's also a great way if you know somebody who's just a beginner Christian, somebody who's new, to get them built up. It's also a great way to do that too. If you have any questions, let me know.
There is a prayer list outside the, church office, and I'd be happy to print you off another copy, where we're praying for different towns around the area that they find out about, the Lord, and they will come to this. I I sometimes I get a little hesitant about these kinds of things and think, ah, the rallies. We don't need to be part of it. I I went to one of their events, last week, and I was really touched at the unity of the church in the area, people coming together for this. And I I really feel like we need to be involved with this.
So if you'd partner with us, start praying for people. If you'd show up to these events, information's on our website, or you can always ask me.
Ray McDanielSo
Speaker 2thank you very much, and I think Josh is up next.
Speaker 3Thank you for that introduction, Nick. Hey, guys. I'm Josh Griffith, and, we're gonna be hosting a book study on The Color of Compromise. It's a book by Jamar Tisbee, and it's talking about, the truth about the American church's in racism. So we're gonna be starting that February 14.
That'll be at my house. You can text me. I have my number up there for more details. It's gonna be five to 7PM, so we'll kinda do some dinner and then kind of hop into the study and just kind of fellowship and talk about that. So everyone's welcome.
We've got kids. So if you have kids, feel free to bring your kids. We got lots of toys and stuff. So yeah, let me know if you have any questions about that. We hope to see you there.
Ray McDanielThank you, Josh. Cool. And this is we don't see scouts right now. They came to the early service. It's scouting Sunday.
First B has been a part of Boy Scouts for ninety plus years. Can you believe that? Ninety plus years. Nobody knows exactly how long but for a church that's a 112 years old or a 111 and a half, that's something for us to be able to support it. But scouts were here this morning.
And I think that's the last of the longest announcements we've ever done. Would you stand up? And we will sing freely, freely. Freely, freely, we have received. Let's be freely, freely We're to of in Surely the presence of the Lord is in this place.
Y'all can have a seat. Would you pray with me? God, I I thank you for the opportunity to gather, lord, in your name that there's a place where we can get in out of the cold and come in. Lord, to be warm together so that we can learn from one another and from your word, lord, and that we can go back out into the cold and be warm. Warmth there for others, lord.
We pray that you'd use us to share your peace, to share your comfort, to share your grace, your unmerited favor, Lord, that rests with those who believe. I pray, Lord, that you'd give us a sense of calling, a sense of purpose, and a sense of your presence just like we just sang. In Jesus' name, Lord, I ask you to bless this offering to do your kingdom's work, Lord. Nothing else. Just that.
Would you show us your will and your way and allow us to be a part of it? Amen. Amen. Thank you, Judy. So, this morning, let me start.
I told this is the first service this morning. It's kinda crazy. I have two alarms in my phone, just two And one of them is take out the trash. It's Friday. Take out the trash.
The other one is, get up and go. It's time to go to church on Sunday. And they repeat Friday and Sunday. And that's the only two alarms I have. I have been working on a kitchen remodel at the Parsonage for the past week.
And the demolition was happening, so the cabinets could come in and be in tomorrow. And so I tore the whole kitchen out. I've been working day and night. I have not been coming into the office but I've been pastoring just the same. It's been an amazing week.
Was telling Judy about that. All kinds of great ministry stuff happening. People getting set free from stuff and calling, let me know about it which is wonderful. People who are in need call in because they need a night in a hotel or they need to be able to have help with something. So we've been helping in that way too.
It's been really, really, really profoundly good week. And the whole kitchen's gone. I've been staying up late and getting up early. And I inadvertently erased my alarm for Sunday. Get up and go to church.
I made it this morning. That's no problem. I'm here. So I'm here. But I mean, there that's that's something that I have come to trust is going to happen.
06:30, Sunday morning, it's time. Get up and go to church for sound check and all that. So I put it back in because I saw, oh, I've only got one alarm in there, and it's for the trash. I need to put that church one back in. So I put it in, but I did not hit repeat on Sunday.
I woke up yesterday morning to get up, go to church. And it's Saturday. And it was 06:30. And I had been up till 01:30 or two in the morning. I barely had any sleep the night before, a full moon night.
And I woke up and thought, I'm never going to go back to sleep. After it took me twenty minutes to figure out it wasn't Sunday, I got up and got ready to come to church. And then I laid back down in the bed and thought, I'm going to try to go back to sleep. And I found that I fell into the most profound, deepest sleep I have been in my adult life. And I had a dream.
And that dream was a pastor's nightmare. I could see across this beautiful field, a couple. Well, I saw a groom standing up front. I saw a congregation seated. I saw the bridesmaids and groomsmen start to enter in and the only weird thing was there's no pastor up there and I'm him And I'm seeing it at a distance.
And as I start to go, thought, I don't have a script. And I have on shorts. And it wasn't that kind of wedding. I had on a suit jacket and cut off suit pants and wingtips. That's ridiculous.
Why am I saying this? I a sermon prepared. That's what we sent in the in the Email bulletin that it was going to be on Luke's version of the Lord's prayer and that's great. It was wonderful. That's what I had planned to do but after I woke up and felt so unready, I thought, I'm not ready for that one.
I'm going to do something. I prepared for another church a few weeks back and it's something that I preached here seven years ago almost exactly. Some of y'all were a part of it. Some of you will recognize your responses in this. One of em I'm going to tell on him and tell who he is But this was a crowd sourcing crowd sourcing sermon that I did here, 02/16/2016.
So it's been seven years. The gospel has not changed. But we have changed some. And so I'm giving you an assignment today. The assignment for you today is I want for you to think about it and come up with it again.
What is the gospel in 10 words or less? So now a lot of these will not be 10 words or less. If if if you can't do it 10 words or less, try to do it in one sentence. Okay? Just kinda get the big idea.
What started this in February 2016 was we're going through Romans and we hit this verse. For I'm not ashamed of the gospel, the good news, euangelion in Greek. For it is the power of God for salvation. Actually, it's es, unto salvation. It's a moving forward.
Unto salvation to everyone who believes. To the Jew first and also to the Greek. The I have used this for many years, the message of the cross, which is the gospel. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. They just don't get it.
It just doesn't make any sense. It's foolishness to those who are perishing. But to those who are being saved, it's the power of God. I like the being saved part of that. That is also showing progress.
It's moving forward those who are being saved. Yes, you are saved at the instant you believe and you would be glorified and go to heaven, all that sort of stuff. But there's a sanctification process. And for those of us who are being saved, engaging the gospel is important. Not just for salvation, but for sanctification.
Continuing to stay in it. First Timothy says this, the saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. The gospel is the power of God unto, towards salvation for everyone who believes. It's good. So the assignment was, what is it?
What is it? And try to tell it in 10 words or less. Now, the Jew first part of this. If if you were attempting to save the entire world, God chose for himself a people and he gave them his law and he gave them an inclination of who he was and that he gave them Torah. He gave them prophets.
He gave them his word, and he promised them his Messiah. And they had a grasp of this. Yet, they continued to walk away from him and continued to fail over and over and over. They'd come back. They'd repent, but they continued in this process.
The Jew first. I think it's important to say, you gotta start somewhere. And he started with the Jews. But it's always been for every tribe, tongue, and nation. Always.
Always. Even when it was for the Jews. They were supposed to be a light to the Gentiles so that they could see God, but also the Greek. In Isaiah thirty fifteen. I know a couple of y'all, this is one of your favorite verses.
It's something that's foundational in your thinking. I love this. And if I had just a few words to say about what is gospel in the Old Testament, it's in repentance and rest is your salvation. In repentance, walk away from your stuff, your sin, your ugliness. In repentance and rest is your salvation.
In quietness and trust is your strength. Now trust in God, obviously, is implied. But because this is the Lord says. This is what the sovereign Lord, the holy one of Israel says. In repentance and rest is your salvation.
In quietness and trust is your strength. The sad part of this versus the last part where it says, but you would have none of it. You wouldn't repent. You wouldn't rest. You wouldn't just be still and know that the Lord is God and you wouldn't trust him.
Here's one. This is a good Old Testament gospel. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. That shows trust in God.
That's wonderful. Hallelujah. But it's Old Testament. It has not mentioned, expressly mentioned Jesus. Now he is the great shepherd.
Oswald Chambers. My utmost for his highest. This is a great devotional. If you don't have one, this is a good one. This is not going to be or maybe this one is 10 words.
This one's short. The gospel according to Oswald Chambers is the reality of redemption in our Lord Jesus Christ. That's good. It's available. You can be redeemed.
Humble yourself before God and ask him and you will be redeemed. C. S. Lewis is purported to have said this. If you can't communicate something in a way anyone can understand.
And I'm asking you to communicate it in a way that people can understand in 10 words or less, okay? If you can't communicate something in a way anyone can understand, either you don't understand it or you don't believe it. Actually, he didn't say that. This is what he said and it's much longer than that. By trying to translate our doctrines into the common speech, vulgar speech, we discover how much we understand them ourselves.
I'm giving you this assignment so you'll work through it, right? Our failure to translate may sometimes be due to our ignorance of the vernacular. We just don't know how common folks talk. Much more often though, it exposes the fact that we don't exactly know what we mean. Any fool can write learned language.
The vernacular, the common tongue is the real test. If you can't turn your faith into that, then you don't deserve it or you don't believe it. They boil it down. But he's saying, it takes time. Study up on this.
Try to translate it. Get the big idea and bring it down. Paul, in his magnus opus to the Romans says, I'm not ashamed of the good news of God. It's the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. To the Jew first and also to the Greek.
But what is it? What is the gospel? I asked you all this seven years ago. I asked it a week before to do it in 10 words or less or if you go over, try to keep it to one sentence. Right?
So here we go. Shooting for the target. Aim and hit center of the gospel. Not too dogmatic. Not too existential.
Not too supernaturalistic. Not too naturalistic. Wycliffe Bible translators say this. And it's longer, but I think it's really good. It's very biblical.
The central truth of the gospel, the good news is that God has provided a way of salvation. For men through the gift of his son to the world, he suffered as a sacrifice for sin. He overcame death and now offers a share in his triumph to all who will accept it. That's whosoever. The gospel is good news because it is a gift of God.
Not something that must be earned by penance or by self improvement. It simply is good news. This one's by a buddy of mine in a book that he wrote called The Last Sweet Mile. The message concerning Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God, the non fiction story through which humanity is rescued from its brokenness and returned to intimacy with God. That's Alan Levi.
He's a good guy. What is the gospel? So I'm asking y'all and there are cards or there should be some cards in front of you. If you'll take the cards and write your 10 words or less, I'd appreciate it. Most people chose the text option.
My phone started bouncing immediately when I asked in the first service. But I have a a couple of them. This one said, after long after long conversations with Chinese students, atheists, and my stubborn dad, my gospel became distilled down into just this. It is the news that changed my life forever. Ain't that good?
God created life and eternity through Jesus' perfect sacrifice oh, sacrificial life. A simple sinful person deserving of death, gifted eternal life by grace through faith. That's good. What is it? Jesus.
Isn't that good? Jesus. One word answer. I had a lot of em. It's funny.
I had some of of one, two, three, four, all the way up to 10 and then there are a bunch of em that were over but Jesus, one word. Jesus man. Two words. This guy that when he met Christ, it changed who he was. It changed everything that he thought in a way that he had to wrestle through and when he'd get around his friends and his family, he would cry and they'd say, what has gotten into you, man?
He'd say, Jesus, man. I just love that. Two words, but God. Though we were vile and wretched, thoroughly sinful, and dead. But God, who's rich in mercy.
Yeah. But God, they're all over. That'd be a great study to do. But God in the Bible. But God.
Jesus offers rest. If you're struggling and you're fighting, Jesus offers rest. Salvation, forgiveness, relationship, three words. This one, this is Colleen Walker, by the way. She sent in 10 of them on the same page.
At the cross, Jesus reconciled holy God and sinful man. Ain't that good? She had a bunch of good ones. The other nine were great too but she circled that one. Jesus resurrection reconciles holy God and sinful people who believe.
It's got the elements all there, doesn't it? Faith in Jesus is enough to be forgiven and received. That's good. Faith in Jesus is enough to be forgiven and transformed. So received is salvation.
Transformed is sanctification. That's good. I like that. God's gift of reconciliation offered to humanity. Amen.
Though we did not deserve it. It's a gift. God's love, his son for redemption, our gift to heaven. God's living words inspired and transposed into human hands. Christ died so that we may live.
That's a good one too. So that. I love a good so that. When I'm getting it from scripture, it tells me why it's there and that's good. Christ died so that we may live.
That's a little bit about heaven maybe, but it's also about so that we may live it out. The only way to become right with God. That one is true, but there's an exclusivity there that is problematic for a lot of people. They don't like the only way. But it it is.
And if it's the truth, it's the truth. The the only way to become right with God is the way that he is offered. That is the good news. God's righteous wrath shall be averted pleading Christ's death alone. This one's got a little of a bad news in there, doesn't it?
I remember who did this one too. Choose God's grace through Jesus or default to God's punishment. That one maybe more appropriate for a Jude 23 sermon than an elevator conversation. That was the assignment I said, if you're in an elevator with somebody, you got two minutes. You're going up a couple of floors.
10 words or less. So, Jude 23 says this, save others, snatching them out of the fire. So, the truth about God's plan for salvation for believe of salvation for believers. So, that the truth is in there. Belief is in there.
Salvation is in there. That's the gospel. Oh, this is a good one. Alan, again, Alan Levi. Being deeply flawed and conscious of it but being deeply forgiven and conscious of that too.
That's good. He didn't know the assignment. I just picked that out of the we just picked it. Somebody else just picked it out of a book. So 10 words he probably went over.
Acceptance of undeserved blessings and atonement for yesterday, today, and forever. That's good. Atonement, by the way, William Tyndall made that word up. Didn't exist in English. And when he got to that concept in Greek, he said, we need a word for this.
And he said, at one ment. That's what it is. Bringing people at one with God. That's good. Atonement.
Christ's perfect life, sacrificial death, and glorious resurrection affords opportunity for a positive eternity for all who are willing to accept it. One sentence. Very good. Peace with God on his terms. Oh, there's a colon.
There's more to this one. Peace with God on his terms is good. Unconditional surrender is required. Individuals can have peace with God through Jesus' atoning death. Salvation is by faith alone and Christ alone.
Amen. Just relax. Where striving cease. You're not working for heaven. Right?
It's good. Cleansed by God through faith in Jesus. Christ lived, loved, and died, and rose for our salvation. Jesus' perfect life for our imperfect ones. That's good.
That's good. He had a perfect record. He had a perfect record and could offer that. God would accept that perfect record on behalf of anyone who believed. Jesus Christ gave his life to save ours from sin.
God's message of love and forgiveness available in Christ. And actually, to round out the 10 words alone. Again, the exclusivity in our society is hard for people. They don't like that. But he didn't have to do it for anybody.
If he wanted to start with the Jews first, how can we complain about that? If he wants to start with those who have an easier time believing, how do we complain about that? God's message of love and forgiveness available in Christ alone. Jesus loves ragamuffins. Isn't that good?
Jesus loves ragamuffins. He died to save them and he empowers them. It's not just for fire insurance. It's for how to live it out. Lord and savior, Christ is God.
He died to redeem our sins. Amen. Jesus, father's final sacrifice, making dead alive, empowering through humility. Because of his love for us and through the gift of his son, Jesus Christ, God has bound us together with himself for eternity. Amen.
I actually like he has bound us together. Stop right there. I mean, it's good because on this side, he's bound us together, church. This is he's bound us together. Cross denominational lines, he's bound us together.
And if you don't like it now, you got eternity that you got to deal with. You got to think about this. In humility, we got to recognize this. Jesus. His birth, his life, his crucifixion, his ascension.
Jesus. He died on the cross for my sins even though I constantly fall short. A lot of y'all sending acrostics. God offers a savior to all providing believers eternal life. And another one similar to it is God's only son provides eternal life.
Grace offered sacrifice promised eternal love. God's riches at Christ's expense. That's a good one. Sin condemns hopeless mankind. God lovingly redeems all who believe.
Jesus, God, offers his righteousness, redeeming us from sin's condemnation. Sin, the condemning debt we all carry, could only be paid by God through Jesus who freely offers eternal life and transformation to all who simply believe. Promise for a beautiful eternity with our savior. Amen. Justified by faith in Christ, people have peace with God.
I like that one a lot too. I like this one. This is the background singers in a song by John Lennon. Happy Christmas. Do you all know that song?
Happy Christmas. So this is Christmas. What have you done? That one. The background singers are singing, war is over.
If you wanted. I don't care what you felt about the war at the time. This is good as far as it's our battle that we are in. War is over if you want it. It's available.
Peace on God's terms. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self control. Amen. Oh, this one's scriptural. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.
That's Acts sixteen thirty one. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved. In the town where we lived in Mexico, there was a big church that had this on the tin roof painted so you could see it from the freeway. Damnable as mankind is. That's a good start.
God in Christ provides a way out. Amen. Through Christ's undeserved death, God forgives sins of anyone willing. Your will is important. Your will really matters.
Consenting to his undeserved death for those he loves, Christ obeyed. Think about him being in the garden and saying, if there's any other way to do this, father, let's do that but if not, your will be done, not mine. That is the humility of Christ and he consented to his undeserved death. It was a sacrificial, voluntary taking on of the sins of those who believe. God is good.
He really loves you. Accept that truth. I like that one a lot. When we were in Africa, I saw this on the desk of one of the students. God is good.
Just scribbled on the side of a Bible. God is good. He really loves you. Accept that truth. It is that simple.
God is good. He really loves you. Accept that truth. Oh, this one. I've got somebody in the room that could probably read this one.
And there is an interpreter present here. Yeah. Jesus Christ, the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all who believe in him. Amen. I did that for the internet.
They couldn't hear you. To pay the penalty for every acknowledged sin, Christ died. Amen. This is so something about acknowledging it. Right?
There's something about acknowledging it. Somebody sent this one in just like this. Since Jesus paid for me, shouldn't I give him my all? Jesus paid it forward. Are you thankful?
And then this one has an asterisk. The love of God expressed through Christ for my eternity. This one's my favorite. Ain't that great? The love of God expressed through Christ for my eternity.
What Judy played as the operatory interlude was the love of God. It's what a great song. Since Jesus paid for me, shouldn't I owe him everything? Yeah. So that's more about living it out than it is the moment of salvation.
Since he did this, shouldn't I be living it out? Yeah. This is another song. The vilest offender who truly believes that moment from Jesus a pardon receives. Here we are again.
Jesus offers rest. We are in a lot of ways in a battle as humans trying to get over ourselves and Jesus offers rest. Christ died for our sins, buried, raised, seen. That's that's good. That's biblical too.
That that he was seen by Cephas and then the others. And then by 500 other people. It's important. The eyewitnesses saw the resurrected Christ and lived the rest of their lives serving him. The gospel by which you are saved.
Christ died for our sins. He was buried, proof he died. He rose again and he was seen, proof he lives. That sounds a lot like first Corinthians fifteen three to five. For I passed on to you as a matter of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.
Notice how according to the scriptures comes up. It's the truth. And that he was buried and that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures. And that he appeared to Cephas and then to the 12 and then to 500 others. Truth.
What's funny about this one is seven years ago, somebody sent me this one. And they sent it with this note. Hooray, I've been thinking about this all day. With all the turmoil, dishonesty, fear and evil, this was seven years ago. And only one word speaks to me.
Truth. Have a great weekend. Cheers. And when I asked for them to contact me this morning, one person sent one word, truth. Same person.
It's still the same. Truth matters. Truth is important. We're trying to hit the center of the bull's eye. And so this one I love this one.
I told the first servant who sent this one in. I think y'all probably could guess. This one's Bob Wells right here. Man's salvation, the forensic gospel. God's plan and his provision.
Jesus Christ is the incarnate son of God. He died on the cross in your place, became the righteous payment, a ransom you could not pay for your unrighteousness, which is condemning you before God. Furthermore, Christ was buried, resurrected, witnessed by many, and ascended to heaven where he currently intercedes on your behalf. Think about that. Christ Jesus is interceding on your behalf.
Your responsibility and God's promise. If you choose to believe and trust in these provisions, then God promises your removal from condemnation and you will immediately possess an eternal life. Isn't that good? I like that. And then he followed it up with this, precision trumps brevity.
Not 10 words or less, but it's still really, really good. You were really able to do the precision Trump's brevity is short though. That's good. One John, one of Bob's also his favorite books. One John five twelve, it's as simple as this, He who has the Son has life.
He who does not have the Son does not have life. And then John three sixteen. So beautiful. So good. And if you're worried about the exclusivity of the gospel, consider how inclusive this is.
It is really for whoever. Whosoever means whosoever. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. God is good. He really loves you.
Accept that truth. For in it in what? In the gospel. In the gospel, the righteousness of God is revealed. So God is good is something that a lot of people have a problem with because if God is all powerful and he's all knowing, why is there evil in the world?
Do you all value being able to choose? Do you value your freedom? I think you do. Do you value the freedom to decide this or that? Yeah.
I think you do. So in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is written. But the righteous man shall live by faith. This is that verse in Greek right there. One seventeen, just as it has been written, but the righteous by faith shall live.
I love this verse. The by faith right in the middle can go with the first part of the sentence or the second part of the sentence. And it can't go with the second part unless it goes with the first part. Does that make sense? I'll show you.
By faith. Let me just get to this. By faith. That is by trust, by faith. The righteous one by faith.
You become righteous by what you do with the measure of faith that God has given you. If you place your faith in him, in humility, then you are immediately declared to be righteous, saved. The righteous one by faith. That's that's the righteous by faith shall live. But it also goes this way.
The righteous by faith shall live. You shall be walking out what it is that you believe. If you have been declared to be righteous and it's from humility before God, then he will continue to transform you. And it is for those of us who are being saved. There's a progress that can be made in its sanctification.
So homework assignment is the 10 words or less. I'd really like for you to consider it. Try to get it into as simple as you can and get it back to me in some form. My number is (956) 357-3419. If you don't know, everybody else does.
(956) 357-3419. And you can text it to me. You can put it on the little white cards. You can send it in email, ray mcdanielme dot com. Super self centered email, ray mcdanielme dot com.
But I'd like for you to tell me the 10 words or less gospel. And I want you to think about this. How is it that you will live out the gospel? How how do you live out the truth of the gospel? And how is it that your life will reveal God's righteousness?
He says that the righteous one will live by faith. But he's saying that because he's declared you to be righteous and he's given you the power. He's given you the spirit to be able to walk it out. So how is it that your life will reveal God's righteousness? Now, think that's the last slide.
We're going to do communion now. We're to do the Lord's supper. Last Judy to come forward and play something. Florine threw me a curve this morning and had me come sing something. But I throw him a curve every week and say play something pretty.
Mark, would you come forward? And actually, John, would you come forward too? Steve? Let me see. And Steven, would you mind helping distribute the communion?
Thank you. Yep. God, thank you for thank you for Jesus' life. Lived out in surrender to your spirit and your will, father. So God, I pray that you would bless this time, this little cracker that's representative of the body of Christ.
I pray that you'd bless it, lord. And that you would allow for each that takes it to have before them the steps that you would have walk it out. In Jesus name, we ask that you'd bless this as we distribute this bread. Amen. On the same night that Jesus was betrayed, he had his disciples gathered together there in that upper room, and he shared with them this supper.
And after supper, he took bread and he blessed it and then he broke it and he said, this is my body which is given for you. Take this and eat and do of it in remembrance of me. Jesus also took the cup after supper. And so we're gonna distribute a little plastic cup of grape juice. It's representative of the blood of Christ.
Anus Dei, the lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. We his voluntary and sacrificial atoning death is what we are taking part in right now. God, would you bless this little representation of the blood of Christ? And would you allow us to take it in, Lord, and then to live it out. In Jesus name, amen.
For one. Yes. There's room at the cross for you. The hand of my savior is strong, Lord God, I'm thankful that you redeem. Overwhelmed by your goodness.
I'm thankful. Just like he took the bread, he also took the cup. And at the time, it was a common cup of wine. He took this common cup and he said to them, this is my blood. The new covenant in my blood, take this.
Take it in. They had been looking forward to that new covenant from Jeremiah's days. They've been looking forward to it from the days of the prophets and Jesus was inaugurating that time, the kingdom. And he said, this is my blood, the new covenant in my blood. Take it and drink of it, and do it as often as you will in remembrance of me.
Amen. Amen. Thank you, fellas. I get overcome every single Sunday. I know that y'all know that but boy, here's a card.
My only hope for forgiveness of sins and a changed life. Ain't that good? So good. I need thee every hour. Would you stand with us?
We're gonna sing one to close. For the benediction, I'm gonna open it up again. It's just as inclusive as it can possibly be. Whosoever, whosoever, whosoever. For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Amen.
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