Archive for the ‘Gospel’ Category

3 Mar

Know What You Believe

Posted by sandhillspastor in Bible, Evangelism, Faith, Gospel, Wisdom.

Dear readers,
Winter may be returning, stay tuned. We have enjoyed some spring-like weather this past week, but it appears this will all change in the coming day. We would certainly welcome some moisture, even if it comes as the frozen kind.

As I contemplate what to write this week, I am drawn to the fact that there are a lot of people who criticize Christians and the Bible, but they have never opened a Bible to see for themselves what it says. They may go to church occasionally and hear a sermon based on a couple of verses, but that is all the Bible they know.

The scriptures tell us that faith comes by hearing, but it is also important to study the Bible for ourselves. There were many false prophets in Old Testament times who were preaching feel-good messages, and God had harsh words for them. “But which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or hear his word? Who has listened and heard his word” (Jeremiah 23:18).

If we don’t examine the scriptures for ourselves, it is easy to be led astray by false teaching. The psalmist wrote, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105). Joshua was told by the Lord, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:8).

A passage of scripture we heard in our worship this morning reads, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!… Consequently, faith comes by hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:13-15, 17).

The Word of Christ is the Bible. Read it every day, then study and meditate on what you read; how else will you be able to defend your faith? As the saying goes; believe what you know and know what you believe!

For Him,
Pastor Jerry

24 Feb

Thinking of Eternity

Posted by sandhillspastor in Assurance, Eternal Life, Eternity, God's Word, Gospel, Salvation.

Dear friends,
Well, it seems our climate got a lot colder last week. I’m up for some warmer conditions for a change. Enough of this twenty below zero stuff! It is at this time of year I’m glad to be ‘retired’ and can stay indoors when it’s cold outside. Kudos to those still in the livestock business who are dealing with the weather daily.

In recent days I have been reflecting on the brevity of life and thoughts of where we will spend eternity. The Bible is quite clear, eternity is real and there are two destinations for the human soul. One way is to eternal destruction and the other is to forever fellowship with God and Jesus Christ our Lord. Our destination is centered solely on what we have done with God’s message of salvation. That message is this; believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. There is no other way.

I once thought l would see heaven because although I knew was not perfect, I was at least not a murderer and not as bad a sinner as some people I knew. I was depending on my good works as the key to entering heaven. We are told in Scripture that we are saved not by works, but by grace through faith in Christ. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The Word of God is not a cafeteria where we choose the things we like and leave the rest. No, it is a complete package, a guidebook on our journey to eternity. There is no part of it that is to be ignored. If we place our faith in our good deeds, we compare ourselves to others. If we compare ourselves to the Lord’s sinless perfection, we soon see how unworthy we are.

There came a point in time when I saw Jesus as He really is, and it changed my life. I was no longer setting myself up as an example through my own definition of goodness but seeing Him as the perfect example and the One I needed to imitate.

When we get to judgment, we won’t be asked about our good deeds, but what did you do with Jesus? How will you answer?

For Him,
Pastor Jerry

17 Feb

No Middle Ground

Posted by sandhillspastor in Bible, False teachers, Gospel, Truth.

Hello all,
You may have seen the TV commercial that proclaims, “He Gets Us”. It gives a feel-good message about serving others but leaves out the part about the need for a Savior. It is true that Jesus knows about our struggles and encourages us to minister to others as He did. But as we do, we need to explain our motivation, and that is to bring others to faith in the Lord.

“He gets us” doesn’t tell the truth of the gospel, that Jesus Christ came to die for our sins. It is fine to serve others, but more eternally significant to tell them their need for a Savior. Jesus knows us intimately and understands our struggles. He was tempted as we are, but his response to temptation was not to give in to it, but to resist it. “Then Jesus was led into the desert to be tempted by the devil… Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him” (Matthew 4:1,11).

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).

In a recent message from a well-known pastor, he claimed Jesus will be found in the middle and used the crucifixion as his illustration. Jesus was crucified between two criminals, but this is not to make a point about His political leanings. Jesus wasn’t in the middle; he was totally on the side of truth.

Find a church that preaches the Word of God, not man-made ideas that twist the scriptures into something God did not intend. We cannot preach a watered down or politically correct gospel to try and increase church attendance. This is a large part of why the church has lost credibility in recent years.

What did Paul tell Timothy? “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2).

“For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

Jesus didn’t come to find middle ground, He came to seek and to save the lost, wherever they are.

In Truth,
Pastor Jerry

30 Dec

Finding Hope

Posted by sandhillspastor in Assurance, Eternal Life, Faith, Gospel, Hope.

Dear friends,
I trust you had a blessed Christmas season, although our weather seems to be anything but winter-like. I am not having issues with these temperatures at the end of December, in fact I can wait a few more weeks before we have winter weather. It will then be much closer to spring.
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As we enter a new year, it seems appropriate to write an article in the topic of hope. Much of the world today lives without hope. The Bible tells us there is hope of a future when there will be peace over the whole world. Many people view the idea of hope as something they wish for, but the Biblical idea of hope is of the sure knowledge that a promise is true, yet unseen. Hope can be defined as “The expectation of future fulfillment of God’s promises, as foretold by prophets, often involving themes of restoration and redemption.” In the New Testament, when we read that hope is something set before us, it always refers to Christ’s coming for His saints.

The apostle Paul spoke to hope in this way: “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has” (Romans 8:24)?

The angels who announced the birth of Jesus Christ proclaimed a time when there would be peace on earth. Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests” (Luke 2:13-14).

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3) Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible joy…” (verses 8-9).

I pray also that the eye of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints / believers (Ephesians 1:18). There is hope, but it only comes through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Have a happy and hope filled New Year!
Pastor Jerry

23 Dec

His Story

Posted by sandhillspastor in Advent, Christmas, Faith, Gospel.

Hello friends,
We have entered the early copy season. It’s interesting when holidays come in the middle of the week and my schedule gets upset. I’m a creature of habit it seems. It will be Christmas when some of you read this and I hope you are blessed by it.

The Christmas season is the time of year most people are made aware of the first coming of the Lord Jesus. They may not give much thought to His appearance the rest of the year, but it is impossible to ignore Him with all the nativity displays and Christmas greetings everywhere.

The people of Bethlehem, if they were aware of His birth certainly did not think it of much importance. I suppose they were more concerned with all the people in town due to the census that was being taken. Mary and Joseph obviously knew He had arrived. The angel had given them the news of his impending birth some nine months before.

Those shepherds got the news in a dramatic fashion with a bright light in the sky and an angel announcing, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.”

To accent the announcement, “Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors.” Those shepherds couldn’t wait another minute to hurry to Bethlehem and see for themselves. (Luke 2:8-16).

Scripture tells us after the shepherds had seen the newborn Messiah, they told everyone they met what they had heard and seen. (Luke 2:17-18).

Where are you in this story? Have you experienced the Lord Jesus in your life? Have you heard the story of His birth and the reason He came, but have dismissed it as a fairy tale? It is not too late to place your faith in Him and the salvation he brought to earth. For God so loved the world, he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16).

For Him,
Pastor Jerry

21 Oct

Don’t Stop

Posted by sandhillspastor in Assurance, Gospel, Obedience, Prayer, Trust, Wisdom.

Dear friends,
We are in the fall season. The sun shines, but the warming effect is short-lived. We did receive a few drops of rain on Friday. I believe everyone’s prayer is that we receive some beneficial moisture. In other parts of our country, they need drying conditions. In either case, we must trust the Lord to provide what is needed.

Regarding prayer, I am reminded of a passage of scripture in which Jesus instructs his disciples on the topic of prayer: “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:5-8).

In John’s first letter we read; “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us” (1 John 3:21-23).

John concludes with these words: “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. This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him” (5:13-15).

Some good words from James: “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind” (James 1:5-6).

Keep asking,
Pastor Jerry

30 Sep

Searching for Bargains

Posted by sandhillspastor in Best Life, Eternity, Gospel, Grace, Hope, Planning, The Good News. Tagged: , , , , .

Greetings all,
You have to like this fall weather. If we could get a little rain, it would be a lot better. On a personal note, we traveled to Colorado to visit my brother and sister-in-law last week. It’s been a few years since we have seen each other, so it was good to reminisce over old times. The trip was mostly uneventful, although the roads were a lot rougher than I remember. The best highway was US 30, and I-76 in Colorado was the worst! I have nothing to say about our local county road…

When we returned on Saturday, we were reminded of the Junk Jaunt weekend. As we approached our home territory, we started so see hand-made signs alerting us to the many bargains to be had at various locations. This was the worst traffic of the whole trip! People were everywhere looking for a bargain.

Our pastor pointed out Sunday morning that Christians have the best bargain ever. We have as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God. There is no better deal in this world. As it is written in God’s word, ‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

God’s gift of salvation is free for the asking. The price has been paid at the cross of Calvary. No extra taxes or fees are due. All that is required is that one comes confessing their sins, asking for God’s forgiveness, and accepting his Son as Savior. Scripture reminds us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

In another place we are told, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). You won’t find a better deal than that anywhere!

I repeat myself, but if you are looking for a bargain, look no further than the Lord Jesus. His salvation is the ultimate great deal.

Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift (2 Corinthians 9:15)! It’s a deal you must not refuse.

For Him,
Pastor Jerry

29 Jul

The Unchangeable Word

Posted by sandhillspastor in Faith, God's Word, Gospel, Salvation, Truth.

Hello friends,

Update on my health issues… I am slowly adjusting to the new med schedule and gaining back some of the strength lost after spending ten days in bed. I expect to be back to ‘normal’ in a few weeks. I’m thankful the Lord has allowed me to be back home in the place I love. Now, on to the devotional thought for the week.

In a world that is trying to create a “new” Jesus and twist the scriptures to say things God never intended, perhaps we need to review some important truths. There seems to be no end to the ways people try to soften the message of the gospel, or to make up their own set of rules for life. I will share some truths that cannot be denied, no matter how hard they try.

First, we are told many times in the Bible that there is only one God. “For I am the Lord, your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you (Isaiah 47:13). “I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols (Isaiah 42:8).

The Word of the Lord is unchanging: The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever (Isaiah 40:8). But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations (Psalm 33:11). Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens (Psalm 119:89). All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal (Psalm 119:160).

Jesus is unchanging. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings (Hebrews 13:8-9a).

Finally, salvation is through faith in Christ alone. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6). For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5).

There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called—one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:4-6).

In Truth,

Pastor Jerry

22 Jul

The Calm in the Storm

Posted by sandhillspastor in Assurance, Christian Living, Faith, Gospel, Trials.

As promised, I have returned with another edition of this weekly devotional.

First, an update on my stay in Omaha last week. I was diagnosed with a dissection in my aorta (not a good thing). The first option for treatment is to lower heart rate and blood pressure. This is not an easy task, because lowering one raises the other. So, for well over a week, I’ve been the center of attention for a whole group of specialists. I have had plenty of time to reflect on the important things in life,

While here, I have been watching the life flight helicopter as it lands outside my window. As I witness these landings, I’m reminded that every day somewhere a real-life drama is being played out. As I was waiting to get a CT scan Tuesday morning, there was real drama in the imaging room; a code blue episode was playing out in front of me. It was like being in the middle of a TV program. It was a life changing episode for someone.

In all of this I am mindful of the reassuring words of Scripture. Perhaps the most familiar of these is Psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Another passage that assures us of God’s care and protection is from Isaiah: Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will hold on to you with My righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10.

I know for certain that no matter what life brings, for anyone who knows Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior our final home is heaven. Do you have that assurance?

In His grip,

Pastor Jerry

1 Jul

Freedom

Posted by sandhillspastor in Best Life, Freedom, Gospel, The Good News.

Dear readers,

It was a relatively uneventful week for us. There were some appointments to keep, but this is a good thing as going to various appointments gives us a reason to get out of bed some days. We certainly aren’t complaining about our weather, these cooler days have been refreshing after the heat of a week ago.

As we celebrate the birth of our nation this week, and the freedom we have, we must remember those who have worked and fought for those freedoms. Many of those who have gone before us sacrificed greatly to attain our independence.

From a spiritual standpoint we must also understand the great sacrifice that frees us from the bonds of sin. Ever since Adam sinned in Eden, mankind has been under the judgment of God. Scripture tells us all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). In another place, we are told, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Romans 3:10).

The only remedy for our sin problem is to place our faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross. Dying, He satisfied the demand of God that there be an atoning sacrifice for the sins of all mankind. God proved the truth of this by raising Jesus from the dead. Jesus, referencing the prophet Isaiah said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor” (Luke 4:18-19). Tired of sin? Come to Jesus.

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:34-36).

Peter, writing to Christians advised “Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a coverup for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.”

Good words for all.

For Freedom,

Pastor Jerry

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