Sermon, Nov. 8, 2009: “God’s Gift of Salvation”

The audio on this is still a little rough, especially in the beginning. (We’re working on fixing it!) But if you can get past the first few minutes, I think you’ll be blessed. The sermon notes are below the player.

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Sermon Notes

“God’s Free Gift of Salvation” (2 Timothy 1:12)

In Acts 16, the Philippian jailer asked Paul and Silas, “What must I do to be saved?” That was an important question then, and it’s still an important question. People have many opinions about what they need to do to have a relationship with God.

If we are going to become a church that God uses to reach this community, we need to be clear about what the gospel really is. What does the Bible say about it?

1. This is a personal faith
• “I” is mentioned 6 times in this verse
• Your faith has to be your faith
**can’t use faith of your mom, grandmother, country, church
**no matter how great those people/institutions are
2 Tim. 1:5

2. 3 parts of saving faith
• We can fool ourselves easily, so we need to examine our own faith
Jer. 17:9 2 Cor.13:5
• 1st part: Knowledge
**knowledge is just the beginning
Heb. 11:6
• 2nd part: Belief
**Belief comes when you see the truth of the gospel
**The ability to understand gospel truth is a gift from God
John 3:3
• 3rd part: Conviction
** This is confidence/faith/trust/dependence that Christ alone saves
Phil. 3:8-9
3. Faith has one object: Jesus Christ
• We are saved through a person
John 14:6 Acts 4:12
• Saving faith doesn’t come from knowing facts about things
Phil. 3:5, 7-8
• Saving faith doesn’t come from a special experience

4. We can be confident in His ability to save & keep us
• Our assurance isn’t in what we can do—it’s in Jesus
John 6:39-40
• Jesus never loses anyone who comes to Him in faith
John 10:28-29

This is the gospel:
**We’ve all broken God’s law and deserve punishment
**Jesus is God’s son, sent to live perfectly obedient life
**He died to take the punishment for my sins
**He rose from the dead to show His power over sin & death
**Our job: turn away from sins & embrace forgiveness God offers
**God promises forgiveness, blessings & the Holy Spirit

Application
If you haven’t turned from your sins and trusted God to forgive you because of what Jesus did, today is the day!

If you are one of God’s children, who are you talking to about Jesus? They need to hear it as much as we did!