Madison Trinity Church Madison Trinity

We've all been on job interviews in our days. And some of the questions we have as we go through the interview process are related to the "fringe" benefits of that job. We want to know our salary, what are the health benefits, dental benefits, vacation time and the list goes on. But today, we are going to look at the benefits of God's love. These benefits are not "fringe". The benefits of God's love are core, central and solid benefits that we will experience as believers in Jesus Christ.

Faith is powerful. Every person alive depends on faith at some level every single day. We would not be able to function for long without some measure of faith. When we get into our car, we have faith that it will start and will safely get us from point A to point B. But what about faith when it comes to our eternity. Are we confident our faith is in the right place? Are we sure we have a saving faith? Who is the object of your faith? Do you rely on your wealth? Do you rely on your good deeds? Do you rely on your skill and ability? Do you rely on the One True God? Ultimately, where we place our faith for eternity makes all the difference. More specifically, who is the object of your faith?

Today, I would like to take some time and examine what being a follower of Jesus looks like. Because we do not always follow Jesus the way that we should. And it is important for us to remind ourselves that we are neglecting God’s work. We are neglecting our relationship with Him. We are placing our wills ahead of the will of the Father in heaven.

But when we pay attention to God and listen to Him, when we put His will above our own will, it is amazing the things he works out in our lives. And God cares for all the details of your life. He cares for and loves you deeply. After all, He has given His best for you. He has given you His Son Jesus Christ, who became the propitiation for our sins. Because of Him, our sin debt has been wiped clean.

Jesus doesn’t just want us to participate in the work He is doing. He wants us to be confident in Him and confident in His grace, confident in Him to direct our path and lead us into righteousness as we share His great love with the world.

Have you ever been required to do something and been resistant in fulfilling your responsibility? Have you ever known something is important yet you were reluctant to getting it done? Have you ever known that if you do not get a specific task completed that there would be grave consequences? Yet you decide to wait, put it off until later or procrastinate anyhow.

I am sure we have all found ourselves in these types of situations. Maybe we do not like the task at hand. Maybe we do not think that we are good enough to finish the job well. Maybe we just don’t feel like it. Or maybe we are worried that we will make things worse if we take the necessary steps to simply get it done.

Uncertainty is one of the things that causes us to be vulnerable, dependent. It certainly doesn’t bring about self-confidence or self-fulfillment. It is in this state, that God can accomplish his greatest work in our lives. It is when we realize that we are vulnerable. We are dependent, solely and wholly on Him and Him alone.

And during these past few weeks of uncertainty, I have asked myself many questions. And as I was perusing the scriptures, I came across a story of a man by the name of Nathanial. Though his circumstances are different than mine in so many ways, I could not help but to see parallels that could happen in our thought processes.

Happy New Year Church family. Today is the first Sunday of 2021 and I pray God blesses the Church with great power and influence over the culture of the world this year. I pray that rather than being assimilated into the culture, we become change-agents in today's world. I pray the Church impacts the world mightily and that many hearts are drawn into a saving relationship with our Lord, Jesus Christ.

I remember before I became Christian listening to my mom and dad discuss with other family members and some visitors about God. I remember that I was always intrigued by their conversations and hung on their every word. I didn’t know much about Him but I was, by that time, keenly aware that I did not always follow the rules and that I disobeyed God and my parents from time to time.