Shoot The Gap

CALL TO WORSHIP:

O GOD Hear our Prayers. We ask for Your Guidance and Strength as we

witness these terrible times. Be with us and our families and each

and every saint.

LET THIS BE OUR CALL TO WORSHIP

POINTS:

#1 THE LAW

#2 THE REDEMPTION

#3 THE WILL

#4 THE END

POINT #1:

THE LAW

When we hear "THE LAW" what are we to think or understand'

Whatever it is, verse 20 tells us that we are sinful by virtue of it,

but not in those words.

Is the LAW the Ten Commandments?

Certainly. They form the foundation of our being. And I might tell

you this. There has been only one man who kept everyone of them in

their entirety.

That would be Jesus of course.

Let's look at those ten located on the tablets to remove any doubt:

I You shall have no other Gods before me

II You shall make no idols.

III You shall not take the Lord's Name in vain.

IV Remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy.

V Honor your Mother and Father.

VI You shall not murder.

VII You shall not commit adultery

VIII You shall not steal

IX You shall not bear false witness.

X You shall not covet.

Basically, these ten commandments are how a person will be judged by

God if that person has never accepted Jesus Christ as his Savior. I

can think of maybe one or two that I have not disobeyed. I was a dirty

rag until I met Jesus. How about you?

Point #2

REDEMPTION

We just read that all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.

It's that "fall short" clause that is the kicker.

Unless we do something about it, we will fall short of His Glory,

meaning that we will never see Heaven but instead the Lake of Fire.

Who would want the latter except non-believers perhaps.

I would bet, if I was a gambling man, that many do not realize that

there is a choice that needs to be made.

By choosing nothing, they have chosen the latter. Heaven will NOT be

their final destination. You've heard of defaults I am sure...well

the default here is FIRE!

Christ came to earth and destined Himself to be painfully nailed to a

cross and only after being tormented for hours. He was half-beaten-

to-death when they nailed Him to His Cross and raised Him up for all to see.

No other man could do what He did. But He was not just some other

man. He was God in person, in the flesh, and wanted to give you and

I a way to cross-over the huge gulf that separated us from Him.

If He had not done so, our only choice would be the default I

mentioned earlier. We would all burn forever in torment.

What about a God that cares that much for you and me! He didn't have

to do for us. But our God loved us that much. The Bible says that

He gave His Only-Begotten Son to die for our sins.

But, as He did, He also gave Himself since our God is one in three.

Point #3

THE WILL

Once we have been redeemed, it only sticks if we forget about our

will and take on His Will.

This is most likely the hardest thing a person will ever do because

it is NOT natural for a human to not do what he or she

wants to do but to do what he or she knows that they are to do.

Paul had something to say about the subject.

ROMANS 7:15-20

If Paul sounds confused, he probably was. I know he has me a little

confused at first.

Let me see if I can boil it down for you:

What he does, he doesn’t understand why. It is not as though he

practiced doing what he did, or what he does, for it just comes

natural.

He hates that which he does because he knows it is wrong.

He knows that it is wrong because of the law.

Had he not known of the law he would have no knowledge of his sinful actions.

He realizes that we all are sinners and it is that sin that causes us

to do what is wrong, that which he hates.

Because of sin, his desires are never good.

Instead of good, his sinful self does evil instead.

Still confused? Put another way, we will never do that which is good

unless we shed our sinful selves and allow Jesus to change us from

dirty rags to cleansed saints.

POINT #4:

THE END

As I mentioned earlier, there can be only one of two “ENDINGS” here.

If we do nothing, the ENDING we choose is self-fulfilling. We need do