1 Corinthians 1:8-9 |... (God) will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul throughout this letter will call out and correct their sin, but he doesn’t want to destroy their confidence and assurance. Before addressing all their flaws, he starts with this foundation: “God is faithful. If you believe by faith, you are saved based on grace and nothing else.” In other words, if nothing you did got you saved… then nothing you do will get you unsaved. No good work, no effort, no achievement gained you heaven, so no bad work, no sin, no shortcoming will get you kicked out. Heaven has never been about what we do, or don’t do. Heaven has always been about the grace of God. So though we’re flawed, God is faithful.

Christmas Eve

Matthew 2:1-2 | Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” What happens here in the beginning of the New Testament is not God starting something new- Christmas is God fulfilling what He promised. A world broken by sin and hopeless in death, is now given the gift of forgiveness and the hope of eternal life. From the very beginning and all throughout history, God was echoing his love for us by telling of his Son to come.

We just saw Abraham trust God when it made no sense. And we saw how God provided for Abraham on that mountain. But Christmas shows us something even greater. If God did not hold back His very best at Christmas, He is not going to hold back what you need today. So let me ask you… Where do you need to trust God to provide? Where do you need to place something back in His hands? Maybe it is your family. Maybe it is your future. Your job. Your health. Your marriage. Your child. Whatever it is, Christmas proves you can trust Him with it. So right where you are, would you quietly tell God what you need to trust Him with today? Just take a moment. Lift it up to Him. He hears you. He is faithful. He will provide.

We’ve tried all kinds of things to hide and cover up our shortcomings. Adam and Eve tried sewing fig leaves. Some of us will sin to cover up sin: We’ll lie about our past. we’ll pretend to be someone we’re not. We’ll put on a facade. Some of us will try to do good to cover up our wrong: we’ll show up to church, give more money to the offering, serve in a ministry… as if we could “distract” God from our sin. But at the end of the day, God sees right through it all because our man-made efforts will always be insufficient. UNLESS. Unless God sufficiently covers us up with the same thing. A life for a life. A man for mankind. So God gives us his son to be our covering. John 3:16 | “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Romans 10:11 | “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” Christ is our covering. And when God looks at you and the clothes he’s put upon you, he says: “You’re beautiful. You’re righteous. You look like one who’s forgiven and free!” The first Adam failed us. The last Adam frees us. That’s why rejoice at the birth of our Savior!

Remember to always… 1. Share with the Lord. 2. Share about the Lord. 3. Serve the Lord. 4. Sing to the Lord.

People’s perspectives were put back into place, and they were reminded by that quiet, gentle voice, why they were there- that they were all neighbors who cared deeply about the community- they were just seeing things from a different side of the fence. In our family, we will face moments when we don’t agree. What if, when things get heated in our lifegroup gathering… you listen to the gentle, still small voice. When the Spirit says, “Let us pursue peace.. Remember why we’re all here.” What if you allow that still, small voice to remind you that the one sitting to the right of you is actually more important than you being right? What if at Thanksgiving dinner, when you can totally shout louder or argue better… in a small, gentle voice, you move in toward them and ask about how they’re doing, and what they are thankful for? Family, from this holiday season to the next election season, and every season in between, may we hear the voice of the Spirit say: “Accept one another, just as Christ also accepted you, for the glory of God.”

So we are not just saved out of hell, but we are also redeemed into a family. Jesus did not die on the cross and resurrect from the grave just to get us into heaven in the future. The forgiveness and life that Jesus offers opens the door to God’s house and God’s family now, with plenty of beds and rooms for all people to find rest. Are you tired of living in a perpetual famine? Are you exhausted from trying to fill the undeniable emptiness in your heart? I pray you hear the welcoming voice of Jesus saying, “come home my child.” God is growing His family, and He has welcomed us in to go welcome others in. As people who have experienced God’s hesed, his covenant loyal love, we as the Church are the way God has chosen to extend his hesed to the world.

The world doesn’t change… the Winds will always be present. But blessed are those today, who are saved and are getting baptized, because of the powerful change that takes place within them, not outside of them. Their sins are redeemed. Their soul is restored. Their mind is renewed. God has filled them with His Spirit, and the pneuma will always be present. Just as sure as the wind that blows against them, is the Holy Spirit inside them. So today, we celebrate their newness of life! Their new heart and new mind. Take a look at some of the testimonies of life now in Christ, and then we’ll turn our attention to the baptism pool following.

The world doesn’t change… the Winds will always be present. But blessed are those today, who are saved and are getting baptized, because of the powerful change that takes place within them, not outside of them. Their sins are redeemed. Their soul is restored. Their mind is renewed. God has filled them with His Spirit, and the pneuma will always be present. Just as sure as the wind that blows against them, is the Holy Spirit inside them. So today, we celebrate their newness of life! Their new heart and new mind. Take a look at some of the testimonies of life now in Christ, and then we’ll turn our attention to the baptism pool following.

The world doesn’t change… the Winds will always be present. But blessed are those today, who are saved and are getting baptized, because of the powerful change that takes place within them, not outside of them. Their sins are redeemed. Their soul is restored. Their mind is renewed. God has filled them with His Spirit, and the pneuma will always be present. Just as sure as the wind that blows against them, is the Holy Spirit inside them. So today, we celebrate their newness of life! Their new heart and new mind. Take a look at some of the testimonies of life now in Christ, and then we’ll turn our attention to the baptism pool following.

From these people, the genealogy shows us, comes Jesus our Messiah. Boaz was willing to be forgotten so that Elimelech would be remembered. And by God’s sovereignty, God has preserved and has perpetuated Boaz’s name in the lineage of Jesus. As long as this word lasts, so shall Boaz’s name be identified with Christ. Will you live to be forgotten, so that Christ will be remembered?

We are to act in faith and move with boldness and courage, but when we have actively done all that we could do, we patiently wait on God to do what only God can do. By faith you actively search for a job, diligently prepare for the interview, faithfully pray for God’s provision; Then by faith you patiently wait for God to provide the position or the promotion he’s prepared for you. By faith you actively seek counsel, pray for wisdom, read scripture for guidance about the future; then by faith you patiently wait on God’s sovereignty to order our steps and open the doors.

From the Christian's perspective, there is no such thing as chance. God is either directly or indirectly involved in everything that happens to us. He can therefore be trusted and obeyed in any circumstance, because even the smallest details are under His control.

I feel like almost weekly, I’m meeting people who have been away from church, or far from God, for years. And now, you’re looking for a home to come back to. You’re wanting to return back to God. If that’s you, I believe God is saying “Welcome home!” And I’m not just referring to SBCC, though I would love this to be your home… More importantly, home is where God’s heart is. Home is in the arms of your Father. Naomi had been far away for at least 10 years before returning home. Maybe for you it’s been your entire life. If you’ve been far from God, I pray you know that He’s waiting in the driveway. The door's been unlocked, and the porch light is on. Naomi turned- turned back to God. Maybe today, it’s your turn.

Do you trust that God is your King? Do you lean on what God says? When you don’t know what to do, and you don’t know what is right… “DO NOT LEAN on your own understanding. Do not lean solely on human understanding. In a world with so many voices: From our academic institutions and our theological tribes, from our political parties and our media algorithms… There are so many messages being communicated in regards to what people are convinced is the right way. AND THEY MIGHT BE ACTUALLY RIGHT… But whatever you think is right in your own eyes, in all your ways, STILL acknowledge God, and he will make your paths straight. Whether you’re wandering in the wilderness or fleeing a famine… Will you come before God and trust GOD as King? Will you open up His word, and earnestly seek the Lord in prayer?

Pastor Todd Grant joins us from Watts Powerhouse Church to share a powerful message about how God used a very, very broken down Samaritan woman to tell others about Him. Sometimes, we throw up our arms and say, “God can’t use me. I don’t know the Bible well enough. I am not mature enough in my faith. I haven’t been walking with Jesus long enough.” The woman at the well didn’t have any of those qualifications. She didn’t know the Bible. She wasn’t mature in her faith. She hadn’t been walking with Jesus. She was a broken woman, but a broken woman who had been healed by Jesus. And she couldn’t help but run into town and tell everyone about Him. She said, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” And they went out of the town and found Jesus. “And many,” said, John, “believed in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony.” If God can use her, then God can use us. He can use our words to being hope and encouragement to so many in the inner city who are hurting. He can use you to wrap your arms around a little boy who has lost family member after family member. He can use you to tutor a little boy or a little girl. He can use you to speak life into a woman or a man who has experienced disappointment after disappointment. He can use you to be a friend to so many who have felt passed on by and rejected and discriminated against. He can use you to tell others about Jesus and how He knows all about them, but He still loves them.

There are written accounts of an old Roman practice…when a child would be born into a family, it would be placed at the feet of it’s father. If the father stooped down and picked up that child, it would be legitimized and brought into the family. But sometimes, the father wouldn’t pick up the child. Maybe the child looked weak or frail, maybe the child wasn’t the preferred gender, or maybe it was simply an inconvenient time for the family, and so instead the child would be picked up and taken outside the city and discarded. This was a completely common and acceptable practice at the time. It was called infant exposure. But we also have historical records that tell us how early followers of Jesus would go outside of the city on regular basis at night and they would walk up and down the streets listening for the cries of children and when they found them, they would rescue them and bring them back into their own homes and raise them up as their own beloved sons and daughters. Again, God places the lonely in families. Psalm 68:6 (NLT) And He’s been doing this through His Church. This is our history. We have the opportunity to pick up the same torch.

Today I want to show you why I don’t believe all paths lead to God, but only one path in particular does. There’s only one road that gets you to Heaven. I want to take you on a simple journey called the RomanS Road to salvation. NOT the Roman Roads of the Roman Empire, but the RomanS Road found in the Biblical book of Romans. There will be 4 stops along the way- 4 passages that summarize how to get to God. In fact, it’s actually the message of how God has made his way to you. We call it the good news, aka the Gospel.

Remember what really matters - That’s Jesus. If ever there was a time when we’ve got to follow Jesus, it’s today.