Sermon title,,, I've got you covered
One of my favorite Christian songs, is done by a group, Phillips, Craig, and Dean. Here are the lyrics....
A scene so familiar at the old five and dime
The little boy waited his turn in line
And with eyes so intent he proudly displayed
The candy he'd buy with the money he'd saved
The girl at the counter wasn't sure what to do
Cause the money was less than the price that was due
Then a stranger spoke up from his place in line
Said whatever he's short just take it and add it to mine
Chorus:
I've got you covered, I'll pay the difference
You don't have to worry at all
Whatever the cost is I'll go the distance
If you fail, I will catch you
You know I wont let you feel like you're there all alone
I've got you covered Sometimes when I look back it's hard to explain
Just how far I've come yet how little has changed
I still long to hold what seems so out of reach
Only to find out it's not what it seems
I come to the Father alone and afraid
In need of forgiveness yet it's so far away
I cry out for mercy a child so in need
With a voice of compassion the Father calls out to me
I know what you're facing, I see where you're standing
I'm holding all the answers you need
Cause no situation will ever take you out of My reach
I’ve got you covered. No doubt we have all heard that phrase and perhaps have used it on occasion. But what exactly does it mean.
You step up to the counter to pay for your soda and candy bar and you reach into your pocket to pull out some money and you realize that you don’t have any with you or you used it somewhere else. Your face goes white, then red as you begin to tell the cashier, “I forgot my money.” But your friend that’s in line with you leans up and says, “It’s okay, I’ve got you covered.” When you had no possible way of paying that debt someone else stepped in and paid it for you.
In the old western movies, during a gunfight, one cowboy would tell the other one to make a break , and run toward cover. He would tell him, It is okay, I've got you covered.
Someone says, “Hey, let’s go out and get something to eat.” You really want to because you’re hungry but you have no money or your money should be used elsewhere and you say, “No I don’t think I can today.” That same someone who invited you says, “I’ve got you covered.” And suddenly you change your mind and decide yes I will go out to eat. You didn’t have the money to pay for that meal but someone else stepped in and paid the bill for you.
I love the poem, heavens grocery store..
,
"HEAVEN'S GROCERY STORE"
As I got a little closer
the door came open wide
And when I came to myself
I was standing inside.
I saw a host of ANGELS.
They were standing everywhere.
One handed me a basket and said,
"My Child shop with care".
Everything a Christian needed
was in that grocery store.
And all you couldn't carry,
you could come back the next day for more.
First, I got some PATIENCE:
LOVE was in the same row.
Further down was UNDERSTANDING:
You need that everywhere you go.
I got a box or two of WISDOM,
a bag or two of FAITH.
I just couldn't miss the HOLY GHOST,
For it was all over the place.
I stopped to get some STRENGTH and COURAGE
To help me run this race.
By then my basket was getting full,
But I remembered I needed some GRACE.
I didn't forget SALVATION,
For SALVATION was free,
So I tried to get enough of that
To save both You and Me.
Then I started up to the counter
To pay my grocery bill,
For I thought I had everything
To do the MASTER'S Will.
As I went up the aisle, I saw PRAYER:
And I just had to put that in,
For I knew when I stepped outside,
I would run into Sin.
PEACE AND JOY were plenty
They were last on the shelf.
SONG and PRAISE were hanging near,
So I just helped myself.
Then I said to the angel,
"Now, how much do I owe?"
He smiled and said,
"Just take them everywhere you go.”
Again, I smiled and said,
"How much do I really owe?"
He smiled again and said,
"MY CHILD, JESUS PAID YOUR BILL
A LONG, LONG TIME AGO."
It means in this sense that someone else paid the debt that was yours. Someone else took your place. I’ve got you covered.
Luke 15:11-32
Most of us know the story of the prodical son.
That was the story of your life and that was the story of my life. I deserved everything that should have come my way. You deserved a worse fate than you have endured. We were sinners. We were without hope. We were without strength to help ourselves. But God stepped upon the scene and said, “I’ve got you covered.” I’ll take care of that debt that you are unable to take care of. I’ll take care of not only the balance on the account but I’ll take care of the whole thing.
In our scripture text it said this:
Romans 4:6-8 (ESV) just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:
7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”
In other words you didn’t do anything to deserve the righteousness that God gave you. But God imputed it to you anyway.
The word imputed means: to lay the responsibility or blame for often unjustly or falsely; to charge; to credit to a person or a cause.
We didn’t do anything to deserve or merit God's grace
But he said, “I’ve got you covered.”
7 Saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.
If your iniquities have been forgiven and if your sins have been covered you are a blessed man or woman. You and I are a blessed man or woman if we have received forgiveness from God when we really deserved the judgment of God.
I really should have had to pay the debt for my own sin, but God said "I've got you covered.
8 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.
I love the song MERCY SAID NO...by CE CE Winans
.I was just a child, when I felt the Savior leading
I was drawn to what I could not understand
And for the cause of Christ, I have spent my days believing
That what He'd have me be, is who I am
As I've come to see the weaker side of me
I realize His grace is what I'll need
When sin demanded justice for my soul
[Chorus]
Mercy said no
I'm not gonna let you go
I'm not gonna let you slip away
You don't have to be afraid
Mercy said no
sin will never ever take control
Life and death stood face to face
Darkness tried to steal my heart away carry for 3 beats ...
Thank You Jesus, Mercy said no carry it for 5 beats.....
For God so loved the world, that He sent His son to save us
From the cross He built a bridge to set us free
Oh, but deep within our hearts, there is still a war that rages
And makes a sacrifice so hard to see
As midnight fell on crucifixion day
The light of hope seemed oh so far away
As evil tried to stop redemption's flow
Mercy is when God doesn't give us what we deserve.
Grace is when God gives us what we don't deserve.
We deserve the wrath of God , because of our sins.
But instead ,of God's wrath,, mercy said no.
Instead of God's wrath, He said instead – I’ve got you covered!
Romans 5:6-9
6 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die.
8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
When I was still a sinner and when I still had a debt to pay God said, “I’ve got you covered.”
Ephesians 2:1-5 (ESV)
By Grace Through Faith
2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body[a] and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.[b] 4 But[c] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
By grace we are saved through faith, and that is a gift from God.
God says, " I've got you covered.
