Saved

All of my life I have heard about the importance of being "saved." Growing up in the church the idea of being "saved" was a matter of ultimate importance as it determined where you were going to spend eternity.


Today I am going to think about the idea of "saved" with the congregation I share life with.  I am going to pose the question that has been posed by others in a variety of ways.  The question is simply this, "if you only had the Bible to answer, how to get saved, what would the answer be?"


All of this began in Sermon Lab on Wednesday evening...Sermon Lab is an opportunity for people to gather and think out loud about the Sunday morning message that will be shared. I offer the scripture and then we have conversation about it. Quite simple, yet the results have been profound and have shaped my preaching and teaching in ways that I will forever be grateful for.


Anyway, here is the scripture for today...

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—

and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—  

not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s 

handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, 

which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Ephesians 2:8-10  

In my preparation for today, I have been re-thinking some of what I have thought for a long time. What if it is easier to get "saved" than we have made it?  What if it really is a gift we accept and not something that we have to get ready to receive?  What if we just receive it and then begin to live as forgiven people?

Here is what I discover as I read the pages of Scripture. People come to Jesus in a variety of ways and every time they do, he forgives their sins. 

My prayer is that people will come to Jesus and experience His forgiveness as they receive the Gift. Thanks to my friends in Sermon Lab for helping me to see the power of His Word!

You can join us for Worship and the Word by going to www.nexuslife.org and click on the Online Worship section. See you at His House or online!