21 Aug Not Forgetting the Gospel | New England

Announcements:

UPCOMING EVENTS: GO TO WATERSCHURCH.ORG/EVENTS TO REGISTER

WOONSOCKET ONLY: TWO FESTIVALS WOONIE IS PARTICIPATING IN AND WE ARE LOOKING FOR PEOPLE TO SIGN UP TO SERVE AT THEM.

PUMPKIN FEST – NORTH SMITHFIELD – SEPT 17

AUTUMNFEST – WOONSOCKET – OCT 8 & 9

EVERYONE: 

COMMUNITY SERVE DAY: 8/27/22nthree different serve options, 3 different locations

FINANCIAL PEACE (FPU):  9/13/22

PARENTS NIGHT OUT: 9/16

PING PONG TOURNAMENT: 9/12 – 10/24

ENCOUNTER MEET UP: AGES 19-35 – 9/23/22

SERVE TEAM BBQ: 9/25/22

ALPHA: 9/26/22

CONCERT: DANNY GOKEY, JORDAN FELIZ, AND TASHA LAYTON – 10/1/22

DISCOVER ISRAEL: INFO ON TRIP TO ISRAEL – 10/16

All announcements and the Waters Event Calendar can be found at:  waterschurch.guide

Alpha: New ministry – conversation style Small Group called Alpha that Mehdi and April will be leading.It is for seekers, those on the fence about faith, or disenfranchised from faith.It is to reach lost people. Join the conversation today @ waterschurch.org/alpha

Below, click the link for  ‘Last Days’ – The Book of Revelation Daily in 15 minute segments each day over the next 5 weeks:

https://waterschurch.churchcenter.com/registrations/events/1316059

All announcements and the Waters Event Calendar can be found at:  waterschurch.org/events

Alpha: New ministry – conversation style Small Group called Alpha that Mehdi and April will be leading.It is for seekers, those on the fence about faith, or disenfranchised from faith.It is to reach lost people.  Join the conversation today @ waterschurch.org/alpha

Location Text Alerts:

Pastor Tim has 3 podcasts: The Deep End, the Deep Dive Bible Study on Romans, and 10 questions with Tim only available on timhatchlive./live  Be sure to like and subscribe to the channel to be notified of each new podcast.

The Deep Dive Bible Study Season 6 is returning next week! Sneak peek of “The Kings of Compromise”: https://youtu.be/_c2eM62BFPA

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Key Verse: 1 Corinthians 15

 The Gospel is the power of God unto Salvation. Romans 1:16

When we forget the Gospel, we forget the Gospel to our own detriment.  When we deny its historical existential  reality, we do so to our own demise.  The Church what built many of the institutions of our country and started many of the universities of our culture began to deny the reality of the Gospel in the early 1900s.  In the early 1900’s men and women of this country began to get too smart for the message of the resurrection, healings, miracle, and signs and wonders.  Because of scientific discovery and a naturalistic view of the world, many of the movers and shakers of the Church the last century, decided to deny the central message of the Church for all centuries, the message that there was a Jewish Carpenter named Jesus.

Let us never forget the message of Jesus Christ. Let us never deny  that it is the Gospel power unto salvation that everyone who believes, unto the Jew, unto the Greek and the Gentile. That is why we are here.  

1 Corinthians 15:1–2 (ESV)

The Church of the Corinthians was one messed up church.  They had factions and divisions.  They only followed this guy or that guy. They were hating on each other, taking each other to court, among other things, and they were denying the resurrection.  When a church denies the resurrection, that church forfeits their right to exist.  We are here because Jesus is alive.

We should never move on from the Gospel. We must keep going back to it, beating in into our heart that Jesus died for us.  

Q. In what ways might you have become apathetic to the Gospel?

False Gospel #1. The “GOD-SHAPED HOLE” Gospel.

Luke 19:10 (ESV); Colossians 3:15 (ESV); 1 Peter 3:15 (ESV) 

We need to stop believing this.  We may have thought ‘all is good but something is missing’.  Jesus has never been missing a day in His life.  We don’t add Jesus to an otherwise partially complete life.  The Bible never tells us to invite Jesus into our hearts.

We surrender our entire life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.  We cannot fit God into a portion of our life, but we surrender all of our life to the God who gave us life.  It is not something that was missing, we were missing.

Luke 19:10 (ESV)

He found us we did not find Him. He was never lost.  If we felt something is missing, then it becomes feelings based.  Feelings are not everything that is true about us, that is what the world tells us, but that is a lie from the pit of hell. Feelings will lie to us and decieve us.  If we make it about what we feel in our heart, then we will give up when we don’t feel it anymore.  We are going to go through many Christ follwoing seasons when we don’t feel it because it is not about feelings, it is about faith.  It is not about what we feel it is about what God is doing. No matter what we feel, God is doing something real.

Q. What is a season in your life that you did not ‘feel it’ but God was actually doing something real in your life?

False Gospel #2. The “LIFE-IMPROVEMENT” Gospel

The message of the Gospel is not about improving ourselves, having a great house, great kids, or a great retirement package.  The message of the Gospe is that Christ died and was buried and rose again.  Sometimes, life might go poorly for us after we receive the Gospel, it might cost us.  

Q. What is something you are going through that may not be going well because you follow Jesus?

False Gospel #3. The “HIGHER POWER” Gospel

Watch out for this Gospel.  Not everyone, but some people get addicted to recovery and the program and before you know it the whole things is about getting over that addiction. What we win people with is what we keep people with. If someone only comes to Christ because they want to get over and addiction, what happens when the addiction is no longer there?  The scripture tells us who we are, not what we were. We are to let God tell us who we are, we are not to tell God who we were.  The addiction is the fruit that is the result of the root, it is not the problem. We  need to change in Christ not glaze over our sin.

Q. What might be some sin or addiction in your life that you may have came to Christ only because you needed freedom from it and what point did you realize that Christianity was more than just getting over that addiction or sin?

Jeremiah 17:9 (ESV); Matthew 12:33 (ESV)

False Gospel #4. The “RED LETTER” Gospel

This Gospel says don’t listen to the whole Bible because some of it is offensive so just go to the red letters.  Just listen to the words of Jesus and we will be good.  Or we may ask the question “What would Jesus do?”  We are not Jesus, we need Him, He changes us but doing what He did is impossible. It’s not doing what He did, it is trusting what He did.

Matthew 5:48 (ESV)

This verse is in red letters but we do not have this down.  We are not perfect.  

Q. What are parts of the Bible you have picked and chose from and why?

False Gospel #5. The “PATRIOTIC” Gospel

America is not God’s chosen nation.  The words In God We Trust were not on our money orginally. We have the illusion that America is a Christian nation. There is no such thing as a Christian Nation.  The Gospel is not resident only in America.  This is a faith for all people once and for all in the name of Jesus Christ. It is not about America, it is about Jesus.

Understanding the Gospel:

1. Christ SATISFIED the DEMANDS of the LAW. 

Matthew 5:17 (ESV)

He came to fulfill the laws, to do what the laws say to do.  No one could do all the Old Testament rules and laws except Jesus.

Romans 10:4 (ESV)

We just need to believe. The primary undercurrent of the Gospel is not getting better it is letting Christ stand in our place.  He is the perfect sacrifce for our sin.  No more sacrifices, because Jesus was the final sacrifice.  We are only perfect (Matthew 5:48) when we stop trusting our record and trust His record. It is a promise when we trust in Christ, His righteousness becomes our righteousness and now God sees us as he sees his Son.

Q. How does knowing that when God sees us he sees Jesus give you confidence daily in your walk with Christ?

2. Christ ENDURED the WRATH of God. 

He was perfect and He suffered for us.  He went to the cross to bare the cost of our sin. God is angry, angry with the wicked everyday.  We don’t like the wrath of God because we want him to be cute and cuddly.  Our own kids make us angry at what they do sometimes.  Things they do to hurt themselves make us angry.  Like a child who does not listen when you tell him not to run into traffic.  We would most likely, as parents, run in and stop traffic.  We would scream and yell to save them from death. Christ did this for us!   Either he bares it for us or we do in Hell.

Isaiah 53:6 (ESV); 1 Peter 2:24 (ESV)

Q. What recent example of righteous anger you may have personally witnessed?

3. Christ is the FINAL SACRIFICE for SIN.

There is no more sacrifices.  He is the final payment, the final sacrifice.

1 Peter 1:18-19 (ESV)

4. Christ RANSOMED us to GOD.

Ransom involves payment.  What Christ did was He paid for us to come back to the Father. We are not just His creation we are His purchased possession. He bought is from sin and bought us from Hell and ransomed us back to Himself. 

Mark 10:45 (ESV)

5. Christ ROSE in triumph over DEATH.

1 Corinthians 15:12-14 (ESV)

If there is no resurrection then there is no point to this movement.  Because Christ is raised, we will be raised.

Romans 6:9–11 (ESV); 1 Corinthians 15:9-10 (ESV)

The grace of God changes us. Only He has the power to resurrect us.  He has changed our future and secured our future through His ressurection.   

There is no other option for us,  these options are the only options. We cannot make deals with God so we have things our way.  We have every right to make every deal we want with ourselves regarding eternity BUT only the Gospel leads us to heaven.  The only agreement that God has made is that if we believe on the One He sent, we will be saved.

Q. What deals have you tried to make thinking it would be good enough to get you to heaven?

This Week’s Challenge: Reflect on what the Gospel truly means and live like you believe it.