There are a few places in the Bible where gifts are spoken about.  God has given us all unique and special gifts.  These gifts when used well help to make the church stronger and help others come to know of the great love that Jesus has for us.  In Romans 12 we are given a slightly different perspective added on to this.  Let’s look at the passage which is found in Romans 12 together today.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.

Paul talks about our acts of service or using our gifts as our spiritual act of worship.  In other words when we use our gifts we don’t simply help each other or the church but it’s also how we offer worship to God.  When we think of the amazing love that God has poured out on our lives our response is to worship Him by using the gifts that He has given us. God has made us each unique parts of the body of Christ.  We all need to be worshiping God with our gifts for the body to function at its best.  I pray that we might all worship God with our lives by serving Him and serving others in the special and unique ways that He has gifted us.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

When God builds the early church He uses the Apostle Paul as His primary missionary to the Gentiles.  While some Jewish people embrace Jesus as the Messiah, many cling to their old ways and religion.  Paul has a heart for his people and speaks a lot about their hopeful embracing of Jesus.  Let’s look at what he says about this in Romans 11 together today.  

I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew. Don’t you know what Scripture says in the passage about Elijah—how he appealed to God against Israel: 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me”? 4 And what was God’s answer to him? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 So too, at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.

It is always amazing to me to watch the plans of God unfold.  He rarely does things in a way that we might plan or expect on our own.  Even as He builds the early church, God uses unexpected people in unexpected ways.  He uses Paul, perhaps the most Jewish person He could find, who persecuted the church, jailing and killing Christians, to reach the Gentiles of the world with His message.  He uses a group of Jewish fishermen, sinners, and tax collectors to reach the Jewish people with His message.  He uses impulsive Peter, the biggest wild card out there, to be the primary leader of the early church.  The beauty of God’s message of love and grace is that it is on full display even in the delivery of His message.  He uses a rag tag group to bring His message to the world.  There is grace even in the delivery system!  God did not forget His people at all, He simply embraced the Gentiles as well.  He used their inclusion to make the church better and stronger.  Paul recognizes this and appreciates his own role in the process.  The thing we all need to know is that God wants to use each of us in the unfolding of His plan as well.  He continues to build His church and he wants each of us to be a part of His delivery system.  He wants us to carry on His message of love and grace to the world.  I pray that we would all have the privilege to be a part of God’s unexpected plans.  

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Have you ever been around someone who was passionate about something but was missing the mark?  Maybe they didn’t have the complete picture or they were completely off base (like a NY Jet fan but that’s another story).  Paul speaks about the passion or zeal of the Jews for God but their passion is off base.  Let’s look at his words from Romans 10 together today.  

Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. 2 For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. 3 Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 Christ is the culmination of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.

The Jewish people are trying to obtain a righteousness based upon the law but one of the purposes of the law was to show them their distinct need for God.  The law shows us that we can not measure up.  We can not obtain righteousness on our own merit.  It is why we need Jesus.  Jesus fulfills the law and does for us what we could never do for ourselves.  Paul reminds us all that it is important to be zealous for our faith but that it is equally important to have the full picture.  Without Jesus our faith is for nothing.  Our “good deeds” will never measure up to God’s standard of perfection.  Only through the blood of Jesus can we be made right with God.  His amazing act of love and sacrifice is why we are offered God’s amazing grace in our lives.  Thank you Jesus for loving us while we were yet sinners.  

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

We live in a world where you work for whatever you get.  We are rewarded for behavior, for ability, for performance.  God has an entirely different system, a system of grace.  Paul speaks to this concept throughout the book of Romans.  Let’s look at one such passage found in Romans 9 together today.

30 What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but the people of Israel, who pursued the law as the way of righteousness, have not attained their goal. 32 Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone. 33 As it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”

There is nothing that any of us can do to earn any kind of favor with God.  There is nothing we can do to make Him love us any more or any less.  This goes against our natural human inclinations because of the way everything else is in this world.  By grace through faith God declares us righteous even in the midst of our sin.  The work of Jesus on the cross to conquer our sin and death problem makes this all possible.  Thanks be to God for His amazing grace in our lives.  We all need it!

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

I don’t know about you but there is something special about knowing that someone is praying for you.  It provides a level of comfort and peace to know that someone cares enough to pray and also that they are speaking to God on your behalf.  Praying for someone is one of the best ways that you can care for them.   In Romans 8 we learn that the Holy Spirit is actually praying to God on our behalf and in addition that God is at work in each and every situation in our life working for our own good.  Let’s look at those words together today.  

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

God is praying for you!  Think about that for a moment.  The Holy Spirit, part of the triune God, is praying to the Father on your behalf.  That is how much you are loved and cared for by God.  God is at work in your life right now.  Whatever you have going on, whatever you may be facing, God is at work and is working for your ultimate good.  Rest in that truth today.  It is a great feeling when a good friend lifts you up in prayer.  How much more knowing that the Holy Spirit is always searching your mind and heart and lifting you up as well.  

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Today we look at Romans 7.  It is a famous chapter in the Bible where Paul talks about his struggle with wrestling between his desire to follow God and his sinful nature.  I want to focus on the end of chapter 7 and the very beginning of chapter 8 which I have included as well.  Let’s take a moment to look at them together today.

21 So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22 For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; 23 but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!  Chapter 8 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.

The realization that Paul comes to is that we can never win this battle through our own strength.  When he asks who will rescue him he knows the answer, it is only Jesus.  Jesus did for us what we were powerless to do on our own.  He rescues us.  He redeems us.  He reconciles us to the Father.  Only Jesus is capable of defeating sin and giving us life anew.  As we approach this coming Easter I pray that we would all reflect on the amazing work of Jesus in our lives.  Jesus offers us a life different from the life that this world pursues.  He offers us a kingdom life, a life built around love for God and others.  A life of putting others before yourself.  I pray that we might embrace this life that is offered to us and get off the hamster wheel that this world gives us.

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Hello Advent Family,

One of the most significant questions of life that we all ask in our lives is what is our purpose.  Everyone wants to have a purpose in life.  A purpose gives us a reason to get up in the morning and attack the day.  Paul reminds us all that we do indeed have a purpose and it is in fact the very same purpose that Jesus had here on earth.  Let’s look together today at a passage from Romans 6.

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7 because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

The lives we live should have the same purpose as Jesus.  Our lives should be to live for God.  Paul says this in other ways throughout his letters.  We are united to Jesus through His death and resurrection and should also be united with Him in our purpose.  In life we will all have lots of different goals, pursuits, and dreams.  In the end throughout all of that our ultimate purpose should be loving God and sharing His love with the world.  It is what Jesus modeled for us and it is the task He left us with.  Face today and each day with a sense of purpose.  Jesus has given us one!

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Hello Advent Family,

What brings you peace?  Maybe there is a person or a place that makes you feel incredibly comfortable.  Perhaps you feel peace when you accomplish goals or tasks.  True peace only comes when we are reconciled in the relationship we were created for through Jesus.  Let’s look at Romans 5 together today as we think about the source of true peace.  

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

We have been given an incredible gift – peace with God through Jesus.  What’s more is that it isn’t a gift we earned or deserved.  Verse 8 reminds us that while we were sinners Jesus died for us to give us this peace.  In other words in the very midst of our own selfishness and sin Jesus looked at us with love and decided to offer His life for us.  He gave us the very thing we needed.  He reconciled us to God and gave us peace.  When we were powerless to find peace on our own Jesus simply gave His life so that we might have it.  What an incredible act of love and grace and what an amazing gift!  Today and everyday thank Jesus for this and rest in the peace that He alone can offer.  

In His Grip,

Pastor Dave

Paul continues the theme of grace into chapter 4 of Romans.  He uses perhaps the most revered figure in Jewish culture, Abraham as an example that we are not made right with God by our acts but by grace through faith.  Let’s look at what he has to say together today from Romans 4. 

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh, discovered in this matter? 2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. 3 What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”4 Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. 5 However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness. 6 David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 7 “Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”

Paul uses the strongest argument that he can come up with in the person of Abraham.  If Abraham can’t be good enough to earn favor with God through his own righteousness than how can any of us try and do that.  He even throws in David’s words as well to further make his point.  This is a good reminder for us all because while we all probably know the truth of being reconciled to God by grace and not works, we can slip into faulty thin king at times.  It is easy finding yourself trying to “do” to earn favor with God.  Our “doing” always needs to be done out of love for God and others not out of a sense of needing to earn God’s approval.  This is hard because everything else in life is based on performing to earn approval.  Today rest in the truth that your approval is already there not because of you but because of Jesus.  That frees us to live the kind of lives where we boldly share the love of Christ wherever we go. 

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave

Hello Advent Family,

Have you ever seen part of something and you totally missed what the whole thing was?  My friend once got a tattoo that meant something to him.  He showed it to me after it was finished and it was a star.  I asked him what the star meant and he got upset with me.  He asked if I really didn’t get it, to which I responded that I didn’t.  He went on to tell me this elaborate story about Van Gogh and how this was one of the stars from Van Gogh’s starry night and it meant that he was one part of God’s beautiful masterpiece.  It was quite a beautiful picture once he explained it but to me I just saw a star.  I think that can happen to us when it comes to God sometimes as well.  We just see a small piece of what He is doing or saying and miss the beauty of the whole picture.  Let’s look at Romans 3 together today and try and see the bigger picture. 

What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands;  there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless;
there is no one who does good, not even one.” “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.” “The poison of vipers is on their lips.”  “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. “Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Romans 3 is often thought of as a chapter that focuses on our sin and our need for God.  This is true but there is also a beautiful picture in the midst of this chapter of God’s amazing grace. Romans 3:23 may be the most famous verse in this passage but what about Romans 3:24 – We are justified freely by the grace and redemption of Jesus.  What a powerful truth!  Yes we are all sinners.  Yes we all fail to measure up.  God’s grace is bigger than our sin though.  This bigger picture changes everything.  We now can seek to live for God without fear.  We share His love all the more boldly because of how incredible His love and grace is.  My friends star was fine, but starry night is amazing.  The whole picture of God’s story in our lives is the most amazing thing ever. 

In His Grip,
Pastor Dave