The Isaiah Project: Salvation, 7/19/15

Sermon 7-19-15  The Isaiah Project- salvation  Isaiah 2:1-5

This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: 2 In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established     as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills,
    and all nations will stream to it. 3 Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,    to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways,    so that we may walk in his paths.” The law will go out from Zion,    the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge between the nations    and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares    and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation,    nor will they train for war anymore. 5 Come, descendants of Jacob,    let us walk in the light of the Lord.

Also helpful but not to be listed in the bulletin – Is 1:18 , Is 59:2

Isaiah series

He saw a time when lots of people would be streaming in……

Salvation nuts and bolts

What I learned as a kid

I am a C
I am a Christian
I am a child
My parents tell me that I am a Christian
Gods love is only received by me, not delivered by me
Everything is measured by how it effects me

I am in the church
I was confirmed
I am in church and Sunday school
I belong here
I recognize this as part of my identity
I defend the church
I love the church. The church loves me
God loves me.
I love god but I am not sure how to live that out

Later in my youth, I am personally choosing
Good and bad
Understanding for myself
I Sense the forgiveness of my sin
The teaching of my youth has come alive
Joy. Understanding.  Arrival.
Bad part of this
I am Punching a ticket
Arrogance sets in
I hope you never had an arrogant streak as a Christian.  They just not very attractive.

Salvation is the story of the human condition

We all understand The pain of being lost

Story of man lost in oregon wilderness froze to death – james Kim

The joy of being found……..

Salvation nuts and bolts……We are saved…..

Doctrine of the catholic spirit……Wesley essentials

·        God has worked.  there is a remedy

·        Through Christ

o   Our Sins are disposed of satisfactorily

o   We are Fully reconciled

o   The Way is opened for us to return again into conscious communion w God

o   We are  able to Live again in his Presence

Essentials of faith.  That’s a Pretty good short list

Immediately We tend to think that we have a corner on the market

Christians can get arrogant really quick

Note- jesus was not arrogant, only the Pharisees were…..

But for many, fear entered the picture

I found it campaign

I found it – I lost it. I never lost it . I found jesus, he is in the trunk…

Have I found jesus, don’t tell me that he is lost again

Salvation is not a punitive thing

It is not we are cool and you are out…………

Ghosts and medals

A mother could not get her little son to come home from his games before dark. So she frightened him: she told him that the path leading to their house was haunted by ghosts who came out as soon as the sun went down. After that, She had no more trouble making him come home before dark each evening. But when the boy grew up he was so afraid of the dark and of the ghosts that he refused to go out of the house at night. Occasionally she would need something from the store and would want him to go get it.  So she gave him a medal to wear and convinced him that as he wore his medal the ghosts would have no power to harm him. So now he ventures forth into the dark clutching his medal.

Bad religion gives us medals. Good religion helps us to see that there are no ghosts.

A nineteenth-century Shaker by the name of Thomas Brown questioned the infallibility of "Mother Ann" and the ministry that followed her. He complained to the elders that "Your gospel seems like a tunnel: the farther I travel in, the narrower it grows." A true community of faith provides the light at the end of the tunnel.

Healthy churches exude, joy grace and hope

Gk Chesterton went over to the catholic church

Check the slide from course of study

Billy graham has said that There is wideness to gods mercy

Isaiah saw a time when the turn styles of heaven would be spinning

I don’t want to make lists about who doesn’t get in,

I want to think about who does get in

The joke about the Lutherans who think that they are the only ones here.

Many Examples of those who don’t fit our box

Bob tuttle, saved on an airplane at 30,000 ft w finger in ear

Old testament jews seem to get in

The good Samaritan seems to get in

The we three kings seem to get in

Cornelius in acts 10

In the story of the centurion and his servant, many shall come from the east and the west

The thief on the cross

In Romans 2 –  gentiles show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts

Lots of people are getting in

Who gets in???

God decides who gets in………….

Let me say a few words about What I believe about heaven and hell

You don’t have to agree with me

What I believe about heaven

          Not up or down – three tiered universe

What I believe about hell

          A creation of God’s grace not his judgment

I have noted that we are big on Saved from sin.  Saved from hell. 

Saved from our fears?

Too many Christians live their lives in theory, saved and joyful, but filled with fears about 10,000 things

Filled with worry

Consumed by circumstances

Stuck.  Saved but not changed

We get fixated
Many sit on the beach and watch. Few enter the surf.
Many sit by the pool and watch. Few enter the water

It takes a brave person to be willing to be challenged.
Most settle for safety

A mouse was in constant fear of the cat. God took pity on the mouse and turned it into a cat. Then it became consumed with fear of the dog. So God made it into a dog. The dog lived in constant fear of the local bobcat. God made the dog into a bobcat. The bobcat lived in fear of the hunter. Exasperated, God gave up and turned it back into a mouse again. “nothing I do for u is going to be of any help because yo have the heart of a mouse.”

The life of salvation is a life fully lived

Alive to god

Alive to self

Alive to others

You are not just saved from your sins, in Jesus you are saved from your fears.

Imagine a life where we trusted god and everything was ok.  no fear

Perfect love casts out fear.

Saved not just from, but saved to… something.   Saved to life!

How would I describe my life today?
I am one who has received God’s grace
Trying to live it out
We show god’s love by serving
I no longer want to see people as either in or out- I want to love them. god can decide who is in and who is out

In salvation, there is the work of the cross for us.
It’s personal, its finished
There is also the work of the cross in us
In our hearts, our souls, our minds
That involves everyone that we see
If it is not good news for everyone, then it is not good news.

Salvation at its worst is a self centered spirituality

Salvation asks me more than what I believe about God
It asks me what I believe about others
It asks me what I believe a bout possessions

What does it say about me and God if I have strong belief in him, but treat others poorly
What does is say about me and God if I have strong belief in him but continue to worship stuff.

Ultimately, the Christian faith is not about an attachment to a church, a doctrine, or a way of being religious. It is an attachment to a person, Jesus Christ  and a commitment to follow him.

Where are you in this continuum?
Maybe you are here today and it is time to make a personal decision
Maybe you are here and it is time to move past personal decision to become a servant of Christ

To leave a life of fear, and begin a life of joy and fulfillment.

I am thankful for salvation
I am thankful for the journey away from fear and toward life

I am thankful for the journey of so many streaming in
Lets pray