7.12.09 :: RETRO (Salvation) July 13, 2009

2nd night of this series.  Salvation.

We first had someone share their “retro” – Thanks to Sam! – some awesome pictures of his huge fro and he even brought in his Atari!  Good stuff!

Easy song picking – we went all Hillsong United!  We did “Salvation is Here” & “Mighty to Save” and ”Lead Me to the Cross”.  And then the Nooma started (a short film by Rob Bell.)  We used “Trees” to tie into the topic for the night.  Following the Nooma, I said this about Salvation…

For those who choose God, there is a moment “between the trees” (Nooma reference) when we accept Jesus’ sacrifice and are “saved” – and we need saving!  The consequence of our sin is death (separation from God both now and forever).  There’s no getting around the death.

Unless…you accept the death Jesus gave on the cross – that’s the offer.  He died so that we can live.  He took on our sin, so that we can take on his righteousness.  And it worked out for him much differently that it would have worked out for us on our own – he’s God, so not only could he die for all of us, he was also able to beat death at it’s own game and rise on that 3rd day!  Creating the opportunity for us to be resurrected as well!

Ephesians 2:4-10
God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.

So when we say “yes, thank you. I’d like to have that gift of life”  the result is we are connected to God, both now AND forever.

Fredrick Buechner says this about Salvation: “You do not love God and live for him so you can go to heaven. Whichever side of the grave you’re talking about, to love God and live for him IS heaven. It is a gift, not an achievement.”

So Salvation begins at a given point BY OUR FAITH in Christ alone; there’s nothing we could do to earn it – but that doesn’t mean we’re done, either!  The process continues - “the gift,” as Buechner put it, is only beginning when we say yes. We talked about that some last week – this is the Sanctifying Grace Richard described.

It is the process by which we “move on toward perfection” (John Wesley’s way of expressing this continual choice to do good work, to become more like Christ.) 

What we do with our lives “between the trees” has everything to do with Heaven.  You already know this. We say it all the time. “Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thine name.  Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on EARTH as it is in HEAVEN.”

Being a Christian – being “saved” – isn’t just about us going “up there”
It’s about us bringing “up there” “down here” – isn’t that what Jesus did?!

That scripture comes ringing back into my ears…
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, SO WE CAN DO good things

There is such tension in the Christian life between faith and works.  They are completely different, and yet completely intertwined.  You can only be saved by faith.  BUT a saved life always bears fruit through good works.  When these two things are running well together – heaven is brought down to earth.  And we’re not wasting the time God has given us here, waiting for some finale.  When we stay only with one or the other – we’re missing it.

Then we got into groups of 3 or so and discussed the following questions:
- In your own words: define salvation
- Describe what you felt when you “got saved” – if you haven’t made that choice yet, what feelings hold you back?
- why is there tension between faith and works?
- what “good works” do you think God has planned for you? OR How could you bring some heaven to earth NOW?

Then John, our pastor, got up and talked some about Wesley’s take on salvation.  He talked more about the role our choice plays in our salvation, and that we can choose to deny God’s love as much as we can accept it.  That United Methodist theology doesn’t track with “once saved always saved” because of our focus on the relationship as an exercise in free will.  The Good News of course, is that no matter how stubborn we are, or how often we might choose lesser lovers over our great God, his grace is always waiting to restore and renew.  All we have to do is turn back around and say, “Yes, Lord”

So we closed with that song and thanked God for the gift of salvation!

Here is our current prayer request list. (Anyone can ask for prayer, just let me know! You can talk to me or drop one of our prayer request cards in the worship space Drop Boxes.)

:: Jackie Anderson is still traveling a VERY rough road. Pray for the details to come together. For hope and healing and willingness to hang on tight!

:: Sonya Cooper’s Aunt – Mary – passed away last week.  She’s home!  Pray that the family can work through their grief in this time of loss.

:: Pray for Katie Thompson’s grandparents – her grandfather fell and broke HIS hip the day her grandmother was supposed to come home from rehab on her hip replacement surgery.  He has some dementia issues and the situation is difficult.  He already had his surgery on Sunday and is doing ok so far. 

:: Pray for Christa and her sons

:: Pray for Lacy Thompson – she’s serving as a missionary in Ecuador until Thanksgiving.

:: Toni Ruppert is looking for a new job (while working a paper route!) pray God will open up the right opportunity and that she and Zach will pull through this tough time.