Sermon Outline
Another year has passed and another year has come!
The celebration of a new year causes us to reflect and look back at what happened in the past year. We examine our ups and downs, successes, failures, and shortcomings. This reflection inspires us to strive to make wise decisions and set goals and resolutions for the new year.
As we begin this year, we must understand that our time on earth is short. This new year brings with it the realization that we are getting older and time is moving forward. We might want to undo our past mistakes or celebrate our past successes, but there’s no turning back, and we must not waste the remaining time we have.
The world around us is not getting any better and will continue to be filled with evil. As the Bible in Ephesians 5:16 says, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” We are encouraged to use this time, this new year given to us wisely, as an opportunity for a fresh start to create a better future, not just for ourselves but more importantly, for God.
The goals and resolutions we aim to achieve this year are surely for our good, but the question is, ‘Is that really what God wants for you?’ We can have our goals and resolutions for this year, but the Bible encourages us in Ephesians 5:17 to be not unwise, “…but understanding what the will of the Lord is.”
True wisdom comes not from our own plans and resolutions, but from knowing God's plan for us. And at the heart of this plan is Jesus Christ. As it is written in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”So, as you set your goals for this year, consider that the greatest goal, the most significant resolution you can make, is to explore your relationship with Jesus Christ. Knowing Jesus is the wisest decision you can ever make.Let’s make 2024 a year of true wisdom, seeking not just worldly success, but the eternal joy and peace that comes from knowing Christ. As Psalm 90:12 teaches us, “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”Let this wisdom guide you through the year, rooted in the everlasting love and truth of Jesus Christ.
What Does God Say About COVID-19?
Welcome and thank you so much for choosing to watch our video!
WHAT DOES GOD SAY ABOUT COVID-19?
So, what does God say about COVID-19? To find out what God says, we look into God’s Word, the Bible. It is his complete revelation to us and it's all that we need to know and it can be found right here in His Word. We know that there is no specific mention of COVID-19 by name in Scripture. The Bible does talk about plagues and pestilence and diseases in several passages. But let's be honest with each other. The reality is the thing that we fear the most is actually death. More than COVID-19 or any other way of dying, the thing that we fear the most is death itself. It's a reality for all of us. And it's very fearful, especially if we do not know where we will spend eternity when that inescapable moment of death comes.
Did you know that death came upon all men as a result of sin? The Bible says in Romans 5:12… Let me read it. It says, “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:”
ONE MAN
So, there’s one man mentioned here and to know who that one man was, you have to go all the way back in Scripture to the book of Genesis. You remember the very first man God created was Adam. In the Garden of Eden, there was one man, Adam, and one woman, Eve.
ONE RULE
God gave them one rule. That one rule was… it’s found in Genesis 2:17 - “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” So, God gave the one man, Adam, and the one woman, Eve, one rule.
ONE CONSEQUENCE
He said you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and thou shalt surely die. This was the one consequence. The one consequence of sin became death. Death was passed upon all men as a result of the choice that one man, Adam, and one woman, Eve, to commit that one sin there in the Garden of Eden. But Adam and Eve on that day did not die physically immediately. There was another death that took place according to Scripture and that death was spiritual death or separation from God. God removed them from the Garden of Eden and they were separated from Him. Before, they could walk and talk and fellowship with God. Now, because of sin, there was total separation from God. Every man and woman born from that day forward, they were born in this condition of being spiritually dead or separated from God. Romans 3:23 tells us that everyone is in this condition. Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Romans 6:23 tells us of the result. It says, “For the wages of sin is death;” So, spiritual death took place as a result of sin in the Garden of Eden and it separated Adam and Eve from God. Every man and woman born since that time were born separated from God as a result of the curse of sin.
This my friend is a more serious problem because the results are eternal, not just temporal.
GOOD NEWS
There’s good news, though. God loves you and I so much. The Bible says He provided a way that we could have life spiritually and life eternally through Jesus Christ. John 3:16 in the Bible says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life.”
God’s Word says He loved us. We are the object of His love and He desires a relationship with us. And so in order to make that happen, He sent His only begotten Son to die for us on the cross to pay sin’s penalty for us; so that in and through Jesus Christ, His only Son, we could have eternal life and a relationship with God.
This is His gift to us according to Romans 6:23b, “…but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” We see here one gift. That means it’s free. It will cost us nothing. We see the one Source, that’s God. This gift did not come from a church, a religion; this gift comes from God. We see one result and that’s eternal life – no longer spiritual death and separation from God for eternity.
And we see one object of our faith, “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” The object of our faith must be Jesus Christ – that He died, He shed His blood, He rose again the third day so we could have forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
Now, hopefully, by God’s grace, we now know and understand the penalty of sin; it’s death and separation from God and eternal damnation forever. We also know, though, that there is good news that God loved us so much He provided a way for us to have forgiveness and eternal life through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Romans 10:9-11 tells us that we should confess with our mouth to God, that we believe the Lord Jesus Christ died, shed His blood, rose again the third day as a payment for our sins. With our heart we believe this and we fully trust Christ as our personal Savior. The Bible says, “Thou shalt be saved.” This is the good news. This is the Gospel of the Word of God. This is what God says about our greatest fear, and that’s death.
Perhaps God has given you a desire to know more, please contact us for further information, or answers to your spiritual questions or if you desire to just know more about “What God says”.