PASTOR'S CORNER

Eph 2:1-10 I want to start this morning with two words that changed my life forever.  Two words that completely changed everything for you and for me.  Two words that took my dead spiritual state and made it alive and secured forever through mercy and grace.  Two words that are still mystery and have no value or meaning to a lost and broke world.  Two words that at times brings tears to my eyes because what Paul previously said leading up to this…..because that was me.  Two words that I think are two of the most beautiful words in scripture. “But God” we need to thank God for these two words.  Paul said, “But God”! These words teach us about God’s marvelous intervention in our lives.  As D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said , “These two words, in and of themselves, in a sense contain the whole of the gospel.”  James Montgomery Boice said, “They tell what God has done, how God has intervened in what otherwise was an utterly hopeless situation....

Eph 2:1-10 (Part 1) Man by nature has a big problem and it’s not with one another, you spouse or a friend or even an enemy domestic or foreign.  Man’s biggest problem is sin, and in that sin, God see’s us as dead to Him.  It’s one thing to say about someone you knew well and the relationship broke apart for whatever reason and your bitter and resentful and you end you saying “That person is dead to me”  Though that’s not a nice thing to say but that’s nothing in comparison to how God looks at creation apart from Christ and His saving work.  Man’s basic trouble is not being out of harmony with his heritage or his environment, but being out of harmony with his Creator.  God sees creation; you and me before Christ came and took up residence in our lives….. As dead !  I remember going with a friend from the Moosehorn Church who was a mortician/funeral director and I would go for the ride and help him load and take the body to Winnipeg to the Coroner’s...

Eph 1:15-23 On Monday I was going through my Facebook feed and I came across a post by the Gospel Coalition and prayer one of their distributors written out about the tragedy from last Sunday’s Church massacre in Sutherland Springs, Texas.  Here is what he wrote… “Heavenly Father, not again. Not another unthinkable act of wickedness . . . so soon, too soon. We begin this day with heavy hearts, fearful hearts, and angry hearts. Our hearts break for the family of believers at First Baptist Church, the community of Sutherland Springs, and those living in the greater San Antonio area.  We share their shock; we enter their pain. Father, show us how to love in the place of so much loss. Show us how to pray in the face of such great evil. We grieve for families who lost children and siblings, parents and friends. We grieve for a small town subjected to such a huge tragedy. We grieve for a church whose worship of Jesus was violated with gunfire and death. We griev...