A lesson from Sunday School

Hey everybody, I just thought that I would take a few minutes to write about what I have been able to learn from the messages at Harvest Baptist Church. Some of these things mean quite a bit to me but I am not sure how much you will be able to understand so forgive me if it is unclear. In Sunday school we have been going over the book of Romans. I know that most people reading this have read the book before but did you really grasp what it is talking about? You probably have a general idea but did you ever pay attention to the way that Paul specifically outlined each verse of each chapter? I have an outline that opens up a new angle to the book. Chapters 1-3:20 explains the condemnation of ourselves and the portrayal of what we are without Jesus Christ. Chapters3:21-8 talks about the gift of salvation. Chapters 9-11 explains the history of the Gospel. Finally Chapters 14-16 goes over the exhortation and tells us how we are to reach others with the Good News of the Gospel! The theme of the whole book is stated in the first chapter, verses 16-17. It says that, "The just shall live by Faith." In this verse just is meaning righteous. Those who have been made righteous shall live by faith. Faith is not just a one time act....it is a way of life. You might not think that we can really be righteous, but it is made possible by the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ, and only through him are we able to be made righteous before a Holy God. Changing the subject for a minute. A message that we heard on a Sunday morning from an evangelist had the title of, What is Real Salvation. All of us know what salvation is! But do we really live out what God has done for us? I am going to try to briefly explain the main points in his message. Real Salvation begins when God pursues you *We love God because he first loved us-John 6:44 Real Salvation can only happen when you come to grips with your sin Real Salvation occurs when you trust in Christ alone How do you really know that it has happened to you? *Your life changes, and will continue to change *Your desires will change *You will want to reach people with the Gospel So the question is, What are you going to do with what Jesus has given you? Ok. All of that to say this....the first step in changing our life is mourning over our sin. Sin will be punished. Until we realize the damaging effects of sin we will never really be fully thankful for the gift of Salvation. In heaven there are going to be two types of people. First there will be those who say to God, " Thy Will be done", and then the group where God says, " Thy will be done". Which group would you fit under right now? Which group do you want to fit under? The basic problem of the human race is not ignorance of the truth but rebellion against the true God! All people know God exists yet they still choose to rebel against him. The only thing we can do for those people is pray for them. Do you know what it really means to pray? You are probably thinking that we can all talk to God. Yes we all can talk to him but what are we really doing when we are talking to him? We are not being quiet to listen to his voice and instruction! We learned that to pray you must Praise, Repent, Ask, and Yield. So next time you are going to pray take a second and think about your purpose. Are you always asking him to do things for you or only going to him when you need help. Maybe we all need to take some more time to thank and praise God for the things that he has given us. To ask for forgiveness for our sins and to give up our wants and desires and listen to what He has in store for us.