What is Salvation? Pt. 3 The Christian Via Dolorosa! WELCOME… …to FacebookChurch! Today we are meditating on the subject of the experience of salvation. Please join with us as we worship. PRAYER: Our Saving God, Thankyou for your plan to save us. Open our hearts, Help us to understand. Help us to be transformed by Your truth. We ask all this in the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. THE PLAN OF SALVATION: https://youtube/watch?v=GgH4meAZdV8 SONG: https://youtube/watch?v=Lm7V-26flkQ SERMON: The Christian Via Dolorosa! Have you ever heard of Lindsay Hamon? Hes a pretty remarkable guy. Why, you ask? Well, for the last 30 odd years, Lindsay Hamon has been hauling a 12-foot cross over his shoulder as he has literally walked all over the world. (You can read his story here: dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2285872/Now-THATS-cross-bear-Christian-spends-26-years-hauling-12ft-crucifix-thousands-miles-world.html) Reading about his amazing journeys really inspired me as I learned about this man with such a unique way of expressing his faith. Father-of-two Lindsay said: There is a reaction from people straight away, you end up talking and connecting to people you wouldnt normally talk to. People start opening up about their own lives and you end up sharing with them something that is most personal. In his experience, Mr Hamon is mirroring the walk that Jesus took to the hill where He was crucified 2000 years ago, carrying that heavy cross on His bruised and bleeding shoulders. In Jerusalem, this road to the cross is a site still honoured by pilgrims today, who desire to retrace the steps of Christ. This road is called the Via Dolorosa, or literally the Way of Suffering. In Matthew 16:24-25, Jesus said: If anyone wants to follow me, let them deny themself, and take up their cross, and follow me. For whosoever will save their life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose their life for my sake shall find it. Strange words. “Take up your cross and follow me.” What did Jesus mean? Should ALL Christians be walking around the world with literal crosses on their shoulders like Lindsay Hamon, or does Jesus mean something else here? Well, to follow Christ is to walk with Him in the path of life to which we have been called. Every Christians life must involve some suffering and depravation. We deny ourselves for the good and happiness of others. However Christ promises that in giving of the the material things that are so crucially important to the world, we in fact discover true meaning and life. To follow Christ is to walk the path of salvation! Since the Reformation, most Christians have understood that the path that every Christian walks to heaven has 3 main parts: Justification, Sanctification and Glorification. Wait a sec, those are some big words, huh? Lets break them down. 1. Justification: This is where we start the journey. It is the moment when you believe the promise of John 3:16: For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. The moment we put our faith and trust in God, the Bible says, we are forgiven for our sins and are saved. Heaven becomes ours. The word Justified simply means made just, or righteous. Jesus takes your sin and swaps it with His goodness. Awesome hey? But we still have to walk in the world for a little longer, and it soon becomes painfully clear that being Justified does not stop us from making mistakes. We all let God, ourselves and each other down. So what happens next? 2. Sanctification: This is walking along on the journey. This is the process of walking with God through our lives as Christians. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says: But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. You see, as we spend time with God in prayer and Bible study, and as we live, love, laugh and make mistakes, the Holy Spirit is slowly transforming us to be more and more like Christ. God will take the worst sinner as His own, but He will never leave her that way. He will change her life, and through Him, she will begin to change the lives of those around her. But thats not the end! 3. Glorification: This is like finishing the journey. This is the moment when we all get to heaven and Jesus will change us into the perfect, immortal, beautiful beings he intended us to be! 1 Corinthians 15:51-54 says: Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” Great stuff, eh? In infinite love and mercy God sent Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, so that in Him we might be made in the righteousness of God. Led by the Holy Spirit, we sense our need, acknowledge our sinfulness, repent of our transgressions and exercise faith in Jesus as Lord and Christ, as substitute and example. This faith which receives salvation comes through the divine power of the Word and is the gift of Gods grace. Through Christ we are justified, adopted as Gods sons and daughters and delivered from the grip of sin. Through the Spirit we are born again and sanctified. The Spirit renews our minds, writes Gods law of love in our hearts and gives us the power to live a holy life. Abiding in Him, we become partakers in the divine nature and have the assurance of salvation now and in the judgment. (2 Cor. 5:17-21; John 3:16; Gal. 1:4; 4:4-7; Titus 3:3-7; John 16:8; Gal. 3:13, 14; 1 Peter 2:21, 22; Rom. 10:17; Luke 17:5; Mark 9:23, 24; Eph. 2:5-10; Rom. 3:21-26; Col. 1:13, 14; Rom. 8:14-17; Gal. 3:26; John 3:3-8; 1 Peter 1:23; Rom. 12:2; Heb. 8:7-12; Eze. 36:25-27; 2 Peter 1:3, 4; Rom. 8:1-4; 5:6-10.) A farmer who had been a faithful church deacon had an accident. While he was in his tractor, somehow the plow got stuck. The tractor rose up and turned upside-down on top of him. He was pulled out and taken immediately to hospital with life-threatening injuries. When his pastor came to see him, the farmer was hooked up to every possible tube and medical device imaginable. When the pastor asked, “How are you?” the farmer could not reply because of all the tubes which were down his nostrils and throat. However, lifting his arm (which was in a cast), he pointed to the wall ahead of him. The pastor turned to see where the farmer was pointing. There on the wall was a sign that read “There is nothing that can happen to me that the Lord and I can’t handle together.” The farmer was ready to meet his Lord. He died, but he did so with the assurance that his life was hid with Christ in God. There is nothing like being at peace with the Lord. The farmer had that peace and felt ready for whatever the Lord had for him. At this time, are you ready to meet the Lord? Do you have peace? Christ walked the Via Dolorosa so that you could have it. Here is a song about that moment... youtu.be/7asEdmZsSPo Please pray this prayer with me: Dear Jesus; I am thirsty for peace. I want to be right with you. Please forgive my sin and save me. Transform my life and cleanse me. Return soon to re-create me. Give me Your peace. I ask this in Your Name, Amen.
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 10:19:23 +0000
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