Watersprings Church Podcast Watersprings Church

How have you ever heard someone say that someone needs to, "Step up to the plate!" This is a literal statement from baseball because you can't hit the ball unless you step up to the plate and take your shot! It has also become an idiomatic expression that means taking initiative and responsibility for behaviors or challenges.

Paul writes, in Galatians 6:4-5, "But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load. (Literally - For we are each responsible for our own conduct.) Romans 14:12 says, "So then each of us shall give account of himself to God."

We all must answer two imperative questions. Who are we? Why are we here? The narrator at the end of Ecclesiastes of makes the point. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil." (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

Remember the first question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism. What is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever. In other words, you are the child of God; step up to the plate.


References:

Ephesians 6:4
2 Timothy 3:16–4:2
Colossians 3:21
Proverbs 18:22
Genesis 2:18

Have you ever considered not only what you believe, but also why you believe what you believe? Tonight we will look into the necessity of understanding your worldview, the questions that are absolutely necessary to ask and answer in order to better understand why you believe what you believe.

Hosea 11:1-9

God in the Old Testament is often misunderstood. Many believe the God of the Old Testament is an angry and mean God as opposed to the New Testament God who is loving and forgiving. But the God of the Old is the same God found in the New. God doesn’t change. God’s love and forgiveness are demonstrated in both Testaments and they’re the same. Come this weekend and hear Pastor Tim unpack “The Incomprehensible Love of God” from the Old Testament prophet Hosea.

Acts 10:9-48

Did you know that God keeps all His promises? "For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us." (2 Corinthians 1:20). God promised that He would send a deliverer, and He did. Jesus came to save all of us! God's plan of redemption is for all His creations, which are also waiting for the return of Jesus. (See Romans 8:19-23)

But to us, Jesus says, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28–30)

Regardless of who we are or where we are from, God's call to us is universal and personal. He invites us to receive the gift of eternal life that He paid for by His death on the cross. None are without the hope and opportunity to come to Jesus. That is why we are not just called, but empowered and entrusted, to go into all the world and make disciples of all the whosoevers.

John 3:16-17 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

References:
Matthew 6:6–7
2 Co 11:14–15
1 John. 4:1-6
Deuteronomy 18:21-22
Romans 2:11
Romans 3:21–26
Romans 3:27–30
Acts 17:26a

Acts 10:17-28

You and I are commanded by God to go into all the world and make disciples. (See Matthew 28:18-20) This assumes we will, in the power of the Holy Spirit, come into contact with all the ethnic cultures of the world. (See Acts 1:8)

However, this was not the default thinking of the early church leaders. They were surprised when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Samaritans. Now, after almost a decade, it is time for the good news of Jesus to go beyond ethnic divides. For the promise of a Savior is for the whole of creation.

We have a holy responsibility to tell others about the love of God. even if we don't like them much. Jesus teaches us, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven..." (Matthew 5:43–45a)

How important is it that we are telling others about the hope of Christ and the Gospel of the Kingdom of God? "Deliver those who are drawn toward death, and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, “Surely we did not know this,” Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds? (Proverbs 24:11–12, also see James 4:17)

Also consider, Ezekiel 3:18–19, "When I [YHWH] say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.