January 9 “Live, Move, and Be” Acts 17:28-30
Good morning from Pastor Glen Brock, Baptist Tabernacle Church, Wendell, North Carolina…“For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent:” (Acts 17:28-30)
Everything that we do and everything that we plan to do, should be directed and approved by our “Living and Growing Relationship with Father God, through His Son, Jesus Christ! Because of that selfless act on Calvary, and when we accept God’s gift of Jesus, to save us and to cleanse us of our sins, we are “Offsprings” of God! Often times, we will hear, from various sources that we are all God’s Children, well; that is not true! We are all God’s creation, and for those of us that are under the Blood of Jesus, having believed, by faith, and claimed His provision for our salvation, we are His Children! Being His child requires “RELATIONSHIP!” A simple, yet profound message for this morning…“For in him we live, and move, and have our being; and the scripture continues to clarify our method of RELATIONSHIP… “but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent:” Every RELATIONSHIP with God, begins with the same process, the same method and the same results. The first thing that we all have to realize is that All have sinned, everyone of us! ("for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" - Romans 3:23). Secondly, The Wages of our Sin is Death! ("For the wages of sin is death" - Romans 6:23). Thirdly, God has provided a Free Gift of Salvation through Jesus Christ! ("but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 6:23). Fourthly, and very important…We must confess Jesus as Lord! ("If you declare with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." - Romans 10:9). When, by Faith in God, believing that He sent Jesus, His Son, to die for our sins and to provide Salvation for us, because God loved us enough to send Jesus, we believe in Him and confess that we are, in our human nature, sinners and ask Him to Save us and to fill us with the Holy Spirit, then we are obligated to “Proclaim the Good News” to others and to share this opportunity for Salvation with others. Sharing the gospel can be intimidating but by the power of the Spirit indwelling, you don’t shrink back. God wants you and I to boldly proclaim the good news. So arm yourself with the powerful gospel of peace and prayerfully ask Jesus to open doors for you to share the good news with those He is drawing to repentance and salvation. What God does with you, is up to you…Always Has, Always will!! Stay Strong, Stay Focused…THE BEST IS YET TO BE!