HIStory 102 "Salvation: Abundant Grace!"

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Here are the slides for my sermon as we continue our series on the basics:

 

HIStory 102: Salvation: Grace Abundant

1 Timothy chapter 1

•          Written to Timothy

•          Paul writes in Rome to Timothy in Ephesus.

•          Calls this young Pastor in Ephesus “My true child in the faith” (1 Tim 1:2)

•          Timothy was from Lystra in Modern Turkey..

•          Timothy accompanied Paul as we see in Acts 16:

16 Paul[a] came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer, but his father was a Greek. 2 He was well spoken of by the brothers[b] at Lystra and Iconium. 3 Paul wanted Timothy to accompany him, and he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those places, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered to them for observance the decisions that had been reached by the apostles and elders who were in Jerusalem. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith, and they increased in numbers daily.

Timothy

•          Mother and Grandmother faithful Jewish Believers while his father was a Gentile Greek.

•          2 Tim 1: “ 2 To Timothy, my beloved child:

•          3 I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. 4 As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

Last Week: HIStory 101: Freedom

•          This week: HIStory 102 Salvation

•          Last week we talked about Your and MY Story in relation to HIStory. The world religion: only 2:  

 All others: (Arrow up)                              Christianity  (Arrow Down)                 

This week “Salvation”

•          Today we are going to focus on our Vocation or CALLING…

•          We are Kingdom People

•          King gives us the Kingdom (UP=Belong)

•                                                King gives us HIS 

•                                                     Authority

•                Triangle                                   (IN=Believe)

•           

•                   

•          Expects us to walk in POWER (OUT=Believe)

So why do we concentrate on Sin?

•Paul acknowledges his sin. We acknowledge our Sin but this is not the end of the story.

•HIStory is so important because of the truth of your and MY=our story: Even though we are sinners we are also saints. We are the Weakest LINK! Blush!

•12 I thank him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, appointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent. 

Satan and our sinful human nature want us to stay with the sin:

•But this is not the end. We confess those sins and they are FORGIVEN! We are FREE…

•Here how St. Paul shared this truth of his salvation:

•13 But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

“overflowed”

•ὑπερπλεονάζω hyperpleonázō

•Phonetics: hoop-er-pleh-on-ad'-zo  

•Parts of Speech: Verb                               

•Thayer's Definition
to be exceedingly abundant

•to overflow

•to possess in excess

•ONLY TIME IN SCRIPTURE

We acknowledge our need for our Savior and HE gives us abundant GRACE!

•15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

This is the Attitude we should have:

•I’m so grateful to Christ Jesus for making me adequate to do this work. He went out on a limb, you know, in trusting me with this ministry. The only credentials I brought to it were invective and witch hunts and arrogance. But I was treated mercifully because I didn’t know what I was doing—didn’t know Who I was doing it against! Grace mixed with faith and love poured over me and into me. And all because of Jesus. (Message)

Other translations:

•NIV: 14 The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

•NKJV: 14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

Why is this important?

•Because we forget the BUT…

•1 John 1: 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (BUT) 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

So are you going to fixate on your and my sin or…

•Righteousness

•Authority

•POWER

•We are heirs of the KINGDOM, Chosen, Called, Appointed, Filled etc….

•HIStory: we are tasked with sharing the Author’s truth and move in HIS Power

What the world, Michigan, EMU, needs to hear:

•16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life.

•No matter what we have done, no matter what we are doing or will do as sinners we are supposed to know who we are and walk as examples of abundant grace and power.

God has a sense of humor: Len Sweet:

•Consider:

· Abraham and Sarah--A childless old couple become the parents of a nation.

· Moses--A stuttering shepherd becomes the leader who stands up to the greatest power in the world of his day.

· Esther--A dumb blonde who outwits a king, destroys his evil henchman, and saves her people.

· David--A scandalous Lothario, a dreamy-eyed musician, "the Elvis of his day" (so says U2's Bono) becomes Israel's greatest king.

· Rahab--A prostitute who provides Israel with the means for victory over deadly enemies.

· Jeremiah--A crazed and depressed prophet becomes the saving voice of sanity for the exiled Israelites.

· Hosea--A hen-pecked husband whose heart-wrenching marriage gave people of faith a new perspective on love and loyalty.

· Mary--A teenage unwed mother gives birth to the Son of God.

More:

•· Peter--A dense as granite fisherman with a bull-in-a-china-shop personality who even betrayed his Lord becomes the rock of the church.

•Do you get the joke? The biggest joke of all? God's ultimate ironic twist? Jesus, the rejected one, the crucified one, the stumbling block, became the "cornerstone" of faith and salvation for all humanity.

•The joke's on us. God uses the weakest to do the greatest.

So how do we live like this:

•Fixate on the right things:

•Hebrews 12: 2 looking to Jesus, (NIV Fix your eyes on Jesus the author) the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

•17 To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Fix your eyes on Jesus and pray:

•Phil 4: 4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable,
if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me —practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you

Surround yourself with other believers:

•Think of these things,

•Practice these things,

•Spend time in Worship, Prayer, Study and Fellowship and Discipleship..

•SEE how it changes things…

•Challenge:

•MY Story of HIStory….. Goals achieved

What are areas that God wants to work on in your life?

•1.

•2.

•3

Love in Christ,

Pastor Bryan