Sermon: Reverse The Ripple

An event is not your identity.

Pastor Steven Furtick helps us go back to the source of what we’re
going through so we can begin to write a new story for our lives.

 

How Do I Become A Christian?

 if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Romans 10:9

𝗘𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗢𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

Realizing how to become a Christian is the most important discovery of your life! Becoming a Christian is more than joining a church or saying a prayer. It is a personal relationship that will last for eternity. Do you know what will happen to you the moment you die? Where will you find yourself? Where is your destination?

There are only two destinations - and both are eternal: You will either find yourself living for eternity in heaven or existing for eternity in hell. Where will you be?

𝗘𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗻 - This destination is reserved for those who receive Jesus Christ's gift of eternal salvation. Contrary to popular belief, heaven is not for the church-goers, the devout, or the "good people." The only stipulation is receiving God's gift of salvation.

𝗘𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗹 is reserved for those who reject Jesus Christ and His Gospel. The Bible sums up the Gospel like this: : "...That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures" (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Hell is described in the Bible as a fiery lake of burning sulfur.

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻 - 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘀

The Bible explains how to become a Christian in very simple terms:

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗱 and can not live up to God's standard of holiness. Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵. Romans 6:23 states: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝗱'𝘀 𝗴𝗶𝗳𝘁. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place, so we could be spared from hell. Romans 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." According to the Bible, we aren't required to subscribe to a religious formula or do more good things than bad ones. God gives His gift freely to all who ask. "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved" (Romans 10:13).

𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗮𝗻 - 𝟭𝟬𝟬% 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲

Once you discover how to become a Christian and then accept God's gift, the Bible says that you can be 100 percent assured of your eternal designation.

1 John 5:11-13 says, "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who 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."

Do you know for sure that you will spend eternal life with God in heaven? If not, this is a decision you don't want to put off.

𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗢𝗳 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

𝗧𝗵𝗲 "𝗣𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻" 𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗪𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗚𝗼𝗱

The "prayer of salvation" is the most important prayer we'll ever pray.

When we're ready to become a Christian, we're ready to have our first real conversation with God, and these are its components:

We acknowledge that Jesus Christ is God; that He came to earth as a man in order to live the sinless life that we cannot live; that He died in our place, so that we would not have to pay the penalty we deserve.

We confess our past life of sin - living for ourselves and not obeying God.

We admit we are ready to trust Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord.

We ask Jesus to come into our heart, take up residence there, and begin living through us.

Music: "Amazing Grace"

This is not only my FAVORITE gospel song of all time, but this

rendition is so dang POWERFUL! [and even that word doesn't do it any justice]

I can honestly say, there hasn't been a time when I have listened to it, that tears

aren't filling my eyes - and even running down my cheeks - as the

presence and power of the Holy Spirit floods my soul.

To God be the glory, forever and ever!

I can't wait to be "home" with Him.

Rest In Danger

Psalm 91:1

𝑊ℎ𝑜𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑑𝑤𝑒𝑙𝑙𝑠 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑀𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝐻𝑖𝑔ℎ 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠ℎ𝑎𝑑𝑜𝑤 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐴𝑙𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑦.

---

What do you do when the world seems dangerous? Hide? Obsess about self-preservation? Pray your heart out? All are instinctive, but God asks us to do something that is contrary to our instincts. He calls us to rest.

How can we rest when disasters threaten? How can we live safely in an unsafe world? It all depends on where we choose to dwell. There is a kind of trust that is more preoccupied with the rock-solid character of our Sovereign than with the circumstantial evidence of danger around us. When the psalmist tells us to dwell in the shelter of the Most High, the Spirit is directing us to look at the God who is certain rather than the world that is not. He calls us to count on His utter dependability rather than the ominous headlines of impending doom. And He urges us to hang on to the truths we believe rather than the lies we see. The ability to so absorb ourselves in the character of the Almighty qualifies us as God-dwellers - those who know the strength of the walls of His house. In other words, those who rest.

The restless soul looks at the troubled world and is troubled. It hears the newscasts and panics. It cannot rest secure because it does not know the source of security. It does not understand that whatever happens in this painful world, there is an eternal reality behind it. In that reality is a peaceful kingdom where sins cannot follow, and tears cannot stain. The God who reigns there urges us to find our citizenship with His people. The restless soul can find rest.

Where do you dwell? The dreadful things that cross our minds will attempt to toss us around like a rowboat in a hurricane. God tells us to anchor ourselves in Him. That means to place our hopes, our fears, our dreams, our sins, our faith, our weaknesses under His shelter. His shelter is our refuge, because there is nothing that can penetrate it - no terrorist, no war, no disease, no financial collapse, no broken relationship - nothing. The place of safety is available to us. Dwell there and rest.

“What a blessedness, what a peace is mine, leaning on the everlasting arms.”
- Elisha A. Hoffman

[An excerpt from "The One Year Walk with God Devotional" by Chris Tiegreen]

Sermon: Rescue Your Testimony

 
Pastor Steven Furtick helps us deal with disappointment
and revive our hope through the lens of God’s faithfulness.