In Psalm 116, the author asks: “What shall I render unto the Lord for all his benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord. I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of all his people.”

According to scripture, salvation is a free gift from God to all who are saved, that is to all who truly believe. Are we thankful for this gift? (Eph.2:8-10)

It seems that inside the church or outside of the church the whole message of salvation has for the most part been watered down or lost altogether. And those who do possess it, have forgotten the wonderful blessing that it is. Where would we be without God’s gift of salvation?

Its high time to get back to the basics of thanksgiving, beginning with thankfulness in our hearts for the ‘cup of salvation.’ For those who truly know Christ and his gospel, its time to tell others the real message not the watered down easy believism of today. Part of the Psalm above speaks of fulfilling our vows to the Lord. When we are truly ‘born again,’ (John 3:3) we are changed. (2 Cor.5:17) We don’t live in the same ways as before our encounter with Christ. (note Acts 9)

Many today speak of a salvation that requires no more than saying you believe, yet the Bible teaches that much more is required. Perhaps the reason more are not thankful for their salvation is due to the fact that they believe they had such a big part in it themselves. Since they feel they chose salvation on their own, they need not thank God so much.

As you contemplate this season of Thanksgiving, I would encourage you to truly be thankful for your salvation. If your not sure of your salvation, what better time than now than to give your entire life to Jesus Christ?

Rev. J. Dale

The other key aspect here is what Paul points out in Romans 5:12; “through one man sin entered the world.” He goes on to note that “death reigned from Adam until Moses.”

Townes writes: “When God put our sins upon Christ, what better symbol than putting thorns on His head.”

A popular Christian song sung this time of year is: “The Day He Wore My Crown,” written by Devon Wilson. The words are profound to me; “The city was Jerusalem, the time was long ago. The people called Him Jesus, the crime was the love He showed. And I’m the one to blame, I caused all the pain He gave Himself, the day He wore my crown.”

The song goes on in more detail, but the point here is that Christ wore that crown of thorns for me and you, the crown which represents our sin.

Do you understand the magnitude of Christ’ suffering for you? He wore that crown, He died on the cross for you. This is the real message of Easter!

Pastor John

There are more than 6 Billion people living in this world of ours and many will celebrate some form of an end of the year celebration. Many will in fact observe Christmas, although many who will celebrate really have no understanding of who or what they are really celebrating. The verse above puts it all in proper perspective.

When the “fullness of time,” or when God knew it was the best time in human history, God sent His Son. God knew that the world was coming together under one empire, that is Rome, and that there was one major language, and since the Romans built many roads, for the first time travel was getting a little easier. The world was beginning to be much smaller.

But there is more to the message of this verse. God sent the Christ to save mankind. To fulfill the law of Moses, given by God, and to make the greatest sacrifice ever in order to redeem for Himself a people.

What we see today is a commercial, end of the year celebration that has very little to do with this message. And even those who profess to be “Christian,” there is often a lack of the depth of understanding. There may be a head knowledge and a belief that there is a God, and even a Son named Jesus, but simply knowing facts about something is far different from an intimate knowledge based in a living expressed faith.

Johnston and Perkinson in “The Organic Reformation,” note, “The call to the Kingdom is a revolutionary call to radical obedience through radical surrender of our hearts to His heart.”1 Is this what we see today? They go on to say: “We have exchanged the Person of the King for propositional truth about Him, switching from transformational encounter with the Living God to knowing a whole lot of stuff about Him.” 2

This is the problem with Christmas. The real Jesus and His mission have been replaced at best with the cute baby in the manger who grew up and due to unfortunate circumstances, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, died on a Roman Cross. Interesting in light of Galatians 4:4 where we note that this actually was planned, at  just the right time.

Do you really know who Jesus is? Do you really understand that His coming was not some random accident?

At Christmas we celebrate the birth of The Savior. Luke 2:11, “for unto you was born this day in the city of David, a Savior.”  I hope you have more than a superficially knowledge about Jesus Christ. That you not only believe, but have true faith in Him and full understanding in your heart as to why He came.

Merry Christmas!

Foot 1″The Organic Reformation” (Johnston and Perkinson, pg.50, Praxis Media, 2009

Foot 2 “The Organic Reformaiton” (Johnston and Perkinson, pg.50, Praxis Media, 2009

Jesus said: “I am the Vine, you are the branches.” John 15:7 The concept here is quite simple. The issue is belonging to Christ.

In previous blogs I have shared with you the basics of the Gospel message. Christ dying for the sins of the world, and those who embrace this truth in real belief, seeking forgiveness and coming to Christ in repentance, will have everlasting life. Once one enters into that agreement, they are grafted into the Vine, which is Christ Himself.

It seems that it is in our nature to desire to belong. I suppose there are some who would say they are loners, that they need no one. Like the old Simon and Garfunkel song, “I am a Rock, I am an Island.” But the Bible teaches community, the Bible speaks of belonging, of being a part of something bigger than any one person. We must belong to Christ. “Aprt from me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

Here in New England people are proud of their self reliance. The idea that we don’t need anyone or anything. But deep down we know that we need someting or someone. We were not created to be alone. Do you belong to Christ? Do you understand your human need, your spiritual need to belong?

Jesus went to the cross to make relationship possible. This relationship is very different from our idea of relationship with other people. This relationship has to do with personal healing and forgiveness. We need Christ to have everlasing forgiveness and life, we must be a part of the Vine.

Have you come to Christ? Are you a part of the Vine?

You can pray right now to give your life to Christ, to become a part of the Vine Himself. Lord, I know I am a sinner, I repent of my sin and ask your forgiveness. I believe that you died on the cross for my sins, forgive me, cleanse me and make me a part of your spiritual family, the body of Christ. Please write my name in the book of life, in Jesus name, Amen.

The seven “I Am’s” are: “I Am the bread of life,” 6:35, “I Am the light of the world,” 8:12, “I Am the door,” 10:7, “I Am the good shepherd,” 10:11, “I Am the resurrection and the life,” 11:25, “I Am the way, the truth, and the life,” 14:6, and “I Am the vine,” 15:1.

This statement, “I Am the resurrection and the life,” is a true declaration of Christ’ power. He has power over life and death, He has the power of salvation. In the account in John 11, Martha and Mary are both troubled and upset with Jesus. (11:21,32) Jesus reminds Martha that Lazarus will live again. She replies, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” (11:24) But then Jesus reminds her of who He is, and that Lazarus doesn’t have to wait for that resurrection. If Jesus wanted to, and He did, He could raise Lazarus right then and there. And Jesus does, why? To show who He really was, and to glorify God. (vs.4, 43)

“Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him.” (vs.45) Some in the crowd that observed this great miracle believed in the Resurrection and the Life, Jesus Christ. They had the priviledge of seeing this great miracle up front and personal, and they no longer doubted where the source of salvation, resurrection and eternal life came from. They knew Jesus was the Messiah.

What about you? Have you read the scriptures? Have you really studied the claims of Jesus Christ? If you truly examine the evidence, you will see that Jesus claimed in the “I Am” statements to be the only Savior for this world. Salvation can only come through Jesus Christ. (Acts 4:12)

I would encourage you today to trust in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. He died for your sins and to forgive you and give you eternal life. Why not come to the Savior today?

Pastor John Dale, Mayflower Church

Jesus was using the illustration of light to His audience. The light he referenced was the pillar of fire used by God to guide Israel at night during their 40 years of wandering in the desert. (Exodus 13:21) Just as God guided them to a new land, so Christ would now guide those who believed to a new life through the light of His truth. Jesus says further down in this passage: “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” John 8:31b,32 NASV)

There are seven “I AM” statements in the book of John. “I Am the bread of life,” 6:35, “I Am the Light of the World,” 8:12, “I Am the Door,” 10:7, “I Am the Good Shepherd,” 10:11, “I Am the resurrection and the life,” 11:25, “I Am the way, the truth, and the life,” 14:6, and “I Am the Vine,” 15:1,5.

In all of these statements, Jesus tells us about His salvation. Each of these seven a picture of what Christ provides for us. When His audience came to understand the “I Am” claims of Christ, some believed, (John 8:30,31) some refused to believe and some were going to kill him if they could get the chance. (8:59)  Why do the claiims of Christ concerning salvation bring about such differing responses?

Jesus broke the basic rules here. First, He told his audience that they were slaves to sin. (8:34ff) In fact the Bible says that; “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom.3:23 KJV) The second rule Jesus broke was when He told them that they were not under the influence of God but of Satan. (8:44), and the third was when He claimed to be God in verse 58.

There are many opinoins today about the claims of Jesus Christ about Himself, and about what He said. It is clear however when reading the scriptures that Jesus spoke very clearly about who He was and why He came. He claimed to be from God, to in fact be God. The title, “I Am” also goes back to Exodus chapter three. Moses was concerned that the children of Israel would not listen to him so he asked God who he should say sent him. And God said: “I Am Who I Am.” “Tell them, “I Am sent you.” Ex. 3:14 NASV The people knew that Jesus claimed to be God the Messiah. This is why some picked up stones to kill Him. (8:59)

To wrap up these thoughts today on salvation, I just want to note that what John chapter eight reminds us of is that a man can’t save another man, spiritually speaking. Before salvation we are slaves to sin, and we are under the influence of Satan. We need a savior, a savior who is sinless, who can take away our sins. The Bbile says that Jesus Christ is the only one who can do this.

Next time we will look at what the Bible says about keeping the law or trying to be good enough to earn salvation.

Until next time, God Bless You.

Noting this, we find that Jesus also commented about salvation. No wonder, since the Bible says that Jesus is the “author and finisher of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2) But what did Jesus say?

In John chapter six, after feeding over 5,000 people, Jesus begins a lengthy discourse on salvation. He notes why he came to earth in that he speaks of being the “bread that came from heaven.” (John 6:32) What started the dialogue in this chapter was the question of the audience, “what shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” (John 6:28b NASV)

What they were asking was, “what work do we need to do in order to gain eternal life?” Jesus answer in verse 29 saying that they should believe in the one God has sent, which is Jesus Christ himself.

But the question they asked in verse 28 is an age-old question. Those who believe in a God in heaven, those who believe in an eternal future of heaven or hell, often ask, “what do I need to do in order to make it?”

Jesus tells his audience very clearly in John 6 that “works” or “human effort” will not accomplish salvation for them. A man came to Jesus in Matthew 19 and asked the same question. “What must I do to get eternal life?” He thought he had done everything as far as works go in order to achieve eternal life.

Martin Luther the reformer and founder of the Lutheran Church thought he had to earn salvation. While walking on his knees, doing penance, he recognized that, “the just shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:17) You might ask yourself, “what am I doing to try to earn salvation and forgiveness?”

Jesus states plainly in John chapter six that salvation and forgiveness only come from God, by trusting and believing in Him and the work of His Son, Jesus Christ, that is the work of the cross. Jesus took our sins upon Himself, and no work that we do can provide forgiveness and therefore eternal life.

The source of salvation: John 6:27, “Eternal life which the Son of Man will give to you.” 6:29, “This is a work of God.” 6:35, “I am the Bread of Life.” 6:44, “No one can come to me unless the Father draws him.”

We like to think that we are the source of all things in our lives. We have provided for ourselves and our families by our hard work, we have built our business, etc. We then try to apply this same logic to faith issues. We believed in God, we were baptized or confirmed, we joined a church, etc. The Bible, the Word of God shares a different perspective. We in fact can do nothing, but are completely dependent upon God for everything in life, especially salvation.

To be continued….

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Warmly,

Rev. John T. Dale, Pastor