Romans 5:6-For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
7-For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
8-But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
A young couple invited their aging pastor over for Sunday dinner. While the parents were in the kitchen preparing the meal, the minister asked their son what they were having for dinner. The little boy replied, "Goat." The pastor was surprised and said, "Goat? Are you sure about that?"
To which the boy responded, "Yep, I heard my dad tell my mom that we might as well have the old goat for dinner today!"
WITHOUT STRENGTH-We are all in the same boat (Rich, Poor, Black, White, Educated, Uneducated) and it has a leak!
DUE TIME-Perfect timing!
Gal. 4:4-When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son.
UNGODLY-We we're the ungodly, unrighteous, unholy until we accepted salvation.
"I'm a good person!" At their best their still unholy, ungodly, unrighteous if their without Christ!"
RIGHTEOUS MAN-You don't see anyone jumping in to take Jesus' place, oh, sure Peter cut off the High Priest servant's ear, but guy probably didn't even carry a sword!
Why won't someone die for a righteous person?
Because they tick people off with the way they live their life.
Look at Shadrach, Meshach, Abed-nego-They would not bow down to a golden image, Daniel thrown into a lion's den, just because he was praying like he always did, Mordecai wouldn't bow down to Haman (Book of Esther).
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we we're still sinners, Christ died for us.
A mother living in a tenement house went shopping for groceries. While she was in the store, a fire engine raced by. She wondered, "Is the fire engine going to my home?" She had left her baby asleep at home. Forgetting about the groceries, she ran toward home. Her building had fire hoses aimed at it. It was burning like a matchbox. Rushing to the chief, she cried out, "My baby is up there." He shouted back to her, "It would be suicide for anyone to go up there now; it's too late."
A young fireman standing by volunteered, "Chief, I have a little baby at
home, and if my house were on fire, I'd want someone to go up to save my baby. I'll go." The young fireman climbed the stairs; he got the baby, threw her into the rescue net, and just as he did, the house collapsed and he was burned to death.
The scene is 20 years later at a graveside. A 20-year-old woman is sobbing softly. Before her, at the head of this grave, is the statue of a fireman. A man stopping by asks respectfully, "Was that your father?" She replies, "No." "Was that your brother?" "No," she says. "That's the man who died for me."
[b]The Ant and the Grasshopper[/b]
A mother of a 9 year old boy, Mark, received a phone call in the middle of the afternoon. It was the teacher from her son's school.
"Mrs. Smith, something unusual happened today in your son's third grade class. Your son did something that surprised me so much that I thought you should know about it immediately."
Mother's seldom want to hear from their child's teacher in the middle of the day. The mother was uneasy and nervous by such a beginning to a phone call. "What now?" the mother wondered.
The teacher continued, "I have been teaching for many years and nothing like this has happened until now. This morning I was teaching a lesson on creative writing. And as I always do, I tell the story of the ant and the grasshopper. The ant works hard all summer and stores up plenty of food. But the grasshopper plays all summer and does no work.
Then winter comes. The grasshopper begins to starve because he has no food. So he hops to the ants house and begins to beg. 'Please Mr. Ant, you have much food please let me eat, too.' Now boys and girls your job is to write the ending to the story.
Your son, Mark, raised his hand. "Teacher, may I draw a picture?"
"Well, yes, Mark, if you like, you may draw a picture. But first you must write the ending to the story."
The papers came in. As in all the years past, most of the students said that the ant shared his food through the winter and both the ant and the grasshopper lived.
As always, a few children said, 'The ant said, "No, Mr. Grasshopper. You should have worked in the summer and not played. Now, I have just enough food for myself." So the ant lived and the grasshopper died.
But your son ended the story in a way different from any other child, ever. He wrote, "So the ant gave all of his food to the grasshopper; the grasshopper lived through the winter. But the ant died."
And the picture?
At the bottom of the page, Mark had drawn three crosses. "Jesus gave up his life so that we might live eternally."
During the war in Vietnam a young West Point graduate was sent over to lead a group of new recruits into battle. It did its job well trying his best to keep his platoon from Ambush and death.
But one night when they had been under attack he was unable to just get one of his men to safety.
The soldier Left Behind had been severely wounded from there trenches the young lieutenant and his men could hear him and pain they knew any attempt to save him even if it was successful was almost certain death for the would be rescuer.
Eventually the Young lieutenant crawled out of hiding towards dying man he got to him safely but was killed before he could save himself after the rescue man return to the states the Lieutenant's parents heard that he was in their vicinity.
Wanting to know this young man whose life was spared as such a great cost to them they invited him to dinner.
When they're honored guest arrived he was obviously drunk he was Rowdy and obnoxious he told off-color jokes and showed no gratitude for the sacrifice of the man who died to save him The Grieving parents did the best they could to make the man's visit worthwhile but their efforts went unrewarded.
Their gas finally left and as the dad close the door behind him the mama collapsed in tears crying "To think our precious son had to die for somebody like that!"
