Part 1 - Are You In A Relationship With God? Series

4th Annual Week of Renewal 2007

“Being Doers of His Word”

House of Faith

www.PS127.org

January 19: Are you in a relationship with God?

Pastor Bruce Shields

Guest Speaker: Nancy Kramer

WELCOME

Format

† Open with Prayer

† Sermon

† Prayer / Response Time

† Guest Speaker

† Prayer / Response Time

Q: ARE YOU IN A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD?

Simple Question: Difficult Answer

Saved

Not saved

Unsure

Don’t Care

Who’s going to heaven?

Just about everyone you ask.

How do we know if we are?

Questions to be answered

What is Saved? >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

For years I thought I was because;

† I believed there was a God

James 2:19

“19 You believe that there is one God. Good…”

But this was out of context…

James 2:18 – 20

“18 But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds." Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

19 You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.

20 You foolish man, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless?”

Out of context…you think “I believe in God, I’m going to heaven.”

In Context…YOUR FAITH MUST BE MADE ALIVE WITH DEEDS (or works)

FAITH without works is DEAD!

Was I saved?

I don’t really know, because the thief on the cross did not have works, yet Jesus said he would be in paradise.

But was I on a cross?

Was I at the gates of death, only just meeting the Lord?

Could I not live my faith?

Did I live my faith and in doing so, make my faith ALIVE!

No I did not.

And without living your faith, without works, your faith is dead, it is dead because without works, you are not repentant.

The scriptures tell us what SAVED is;

† Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (ACTS 2:21)

† But there must be Confession with your mouth (ROMANS 10:8 – 11)

ROMANS 10:8 – 10

“8 … "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

So we need to call on the only name that can save us, Jesus Christ.

We need to confess Him with our mouths AND believe in our hearts.

Our faith in our hearts must be met with confession of our mouths, and works to make our faith ALIVE!

These works are our fruit.

When we produce fruit, we are showing our faith in Jesus Christ is ALIVE and that we are repenting!

MATTHEW 3:7 – 8 Jesus Speaking

“7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”

Producing fruit is evidence of repentance!

There are some who think producing fruit is evidence of salvation.

It’s not. Producing fruit, as Jesus said, is evidence of repentance.

So being saved is;

† Calling on the only name that saves - Jesus Christ

† Believing in your heart – Justified with God

† Confessing with your mouth – Saves you

† Producing fruit – Proves repentance

Jesus teaches us in simple terms.

REPENT OR PERISH

LUKE 13:1 – 9 Jesus Speaking

“1 Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.

2 Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?

3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.

4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?

5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

6 Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. 7 So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ’For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’

8 " ’Sir,’ the man replied, ’leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. 9 If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.’”