Message from Pastor Leo

February 15, 2009

     Sin is the one thing that separates you from God.  Have you ever tried to overcome or overpower sin?  Have you ever just decided, “I’m not going to do it any more.  I’m not going to sin?”  You might be able to beat a couple of the physical actions, but what about the thoughts?  What about the emotions in your heart?  What about the feelings?  What about the desires, the lusts, the passions?  What about being caught off guard in a moment when someone cuts you off in traffic? 

     God's story is about how He loves you so much that He sent His Son to die on the cross, and that story has remarkable power!  Paul says: I am not ashamed of the gospel [the good news] of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. Romans 1:16  And when you: confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Romans 10:9  

    When you do that, the power for salvation comes to you, washes you, and cleanses you from the thing which separates you from God - Sin.  And when sin is removed, so is the condemnation.  When the sin is removed, you receive God's righteousness: There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans 8:1  He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  John 3:18

    Now, how do you know if this has actually happened for you or not?  How do you know that you’ve been washed clean?  How do you know that you’re saved and no longer condemned?

    Before people are born again, before they are saved, they have a consumer mentality.  “How do I get ahead?  How do I get out of debt?  How do I become Mr. or Mrs. Popular?  How do I get more?  What's in it for me?”

    But if you’ve been saved; if you’ve declared that Jesus is Lord of your life, God is going to do a cleansing work in you, and eventually you’re going to see things change in your life.  You’re not going to be worried about, “What's in it for me?”  Instead, you’ll be saying, “I am so overwhelmed by God's goodness to me!  How can I worship and serve the Lord?  Pastor Leo, is there a place that I can volunteer?  Is there something I can do?”  That change is God working in your life!

    And as you continue to take in more and more of Jesus by reading your Bible, you’ll see more changes.  And pretty soon you’ll notice that you’re talking differently.  You’ll lose the desire for the things that you used to desire.  You’ll be grieved when you slip up.  You’ll begin to act and think more and more like Jesus.

    You see, you and I march to the beat of a different drummer.  We walk to the tune of a different singer.  You and I belong to the kingdom of God: So then you are no longer strangers and aliens [to God], but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household.  Ephesians 2:19  And it's God's responsibility that He'll never leave you nor forsake you, that He'll provide for you.  And so we look to God.  We look to God for the power that saves us.  His power has changed our life.  He’s made us free from the law of sin and death.  That's why there's no condemnation.

     Take in more of Jesus today.  Confess Him as Lord of your life.  Pray.  And read your Bible.

May the Lord Jesus Christ Be Magnified!

Pastor Leo A. Giovinetti