Opening Prayer - Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity to worship your Son this morning. We know that if He hadn't died on the cross for our sins and arose from the dead, we would have no way to have a future home in Heaven or the privilage of worshiping Him this morning. Please bless us indeed and give us the strength and wisdom to live the way the Bible says we should live. We pray that everyone who reads this sermon who are not saved will become saved before it is too late. For this Sunday morning service, we pray that You will help us to not be misled by popular but incorrect theology. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
Worship music - Please click the links and sing along if you know the words (You can also click skip ad to go straight to the songs) -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aeECPiZpWY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIEEz9yaukA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu2E2FUcIiE
Popular But Very Wrong
Mega churches seems like a great idea, but from my experience, a Big change needs to happen in them.
A recent church seems to be promoting the idea that everyone who believes in the finished work of Jesus' death on the cross will go to Heaven. They attribute this to Ephesians 2:8,9 which says, "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."
They have repeatedly brought up things such as - If God gives us the free gift of salvation, why would we want to do anything for God? Could we just sit back and wait for Heaven? That could happen, but we would be missing out on so much in this life. We wouldn't be able to bear good fruit, lay up treasures in Heaven by giving money to the local church and things for God's purposes, and we will not have any rewards in Heaven (1 Corinthians 3:5-15).
Ephesians 2:8,9 is very true. Salvation is a gift from God, and we can't do anything to earn it. Many pastors look at these verses, and say things such as, "All we have to do is believe in the finished work of Jesus' death on the cross, because if we do anything other than believe, we will be working to earn our salvation, and it would no longer be a gift." When pastors come to this conclusion, repentance, discipleship, and Jesus' Lordship are eliminated. These topics are frowned upon and are discouraged.
These pastors don't understand (or pretend to not understand) that someone isn't trying to earn their salvation when they are willing from this moment on and for the rest of their life to begin living a new lifestlye by living for Jesus. Being willing to repent, being willing to become Jesus' disciple, and being willing for Jesus to become the Lord of your life basically means the same thing (explained in this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/theanswer), and it prepares a person's heart to recieve Jesus (explained in this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/chap16). If someone obeys Luke 14:25-33 by counting the cost (knowing what kind of lifestyle they are going to have to live), and they aren't willing to live that way from this moment on and for the rest of their life, they aren't ready to be saved by grace (believe in the finished work of Jesus' death on the cross so they can go to Heaven when they leave this world). Jesus turned thousands of people away from Heaven during His time on the earth (explained in number 1-5 of this sermon - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/feb29), and He is still doing that today. Hebrews 13:8 says, "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."
For more details on these topics, please see these websites -
http://chriswaug5.wix.com/theanswer
http://chriswaug5.wix.com/chap4
http://chriswaug5.wix.com/chap5
http://chriswaug5.wix.com/chap6
http://chriswaug5.wix.com/chap7
http://chriswaug5.wix.com/chap8
http://chriswaug5.wix.com/chap9
http://chriswaug5.wix.com/chap10
http://chriswaug5.wix.com/chap34
If I said that someone becomes a Christian "after" they become Jesus' disciple, I would have said that people must earn their salvation, and salvation wouldn't be a gift. However, there is a big difference in being willing to become Jesus' disciple before someone believes and recieves salvation. A perfect example of this was when Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding at Cana (John 2:1-11). Jesus' eleven close disciples were willing to follow Jesus in the first chapter of John, but they recieved salvation when they believed on Him after Jesus turned water into wine - John 2:11 says, "This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory (This was the first of many miracles Jesus performed that proved He is the Savior); and his disciples believed on him."
Look for a continuation of this sermon next Sunday morning.
If you have never prayed or made a decision to trust Jesus' death on the cross and His shed blood to erase your sins and let you into Heaven, you must be willing to follow Jesus from this moment on and for the rest of your life. This website will tell you how - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven
If you have prayed or made a decision to trust Jesus' death on the cross and His shed blood to erase your sins and let you into Heaven, but you haven't been following (imitating and obeying) Jesus, please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/makingsure
If you have prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, but you are not sure that you are really a Christian (Hebrews 11:6, Matthew 21:18-22, 1 John 5:14, and Hebrews 11:1), you need to be sure - please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven