Happy Thanksgiving!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving.  I LOVE Thanksgiving!  Why?  Well for a couple of reasons:

1. There will be food.  Lots of food.
2. We close the church for two days.  (Even though I still have to prepare for Sunday!)
3. My boys are out of school, so we get to hang out.
4. My son Chandler is back from school for a week.  We get to hang out and play music together on Sunday!
5. Mom is cooking some really scrumptious stuff (as I write this I'm eating her sausage balls, mmmm!)
6. Tomorrow we get to host a huge Community Thanksgiving meal at church.  We'll have 20 turkeys, tons of side dishes, and a lot of people will break bread together!

I wanted to take a moment to tell everyone who is a part of our life, or a part of our church - I am so blessed to have you part of my life!  Thank you for being our friends, thank you for your love, your support, and your friendship.

I also want to thank my God, who has given my family and I an opportunity to be part of so many lives.  I thank Him for my family, the ministry He has given me, but even more so - for giving me peace with Him through His Son Jesus Christ.

This Sunday I'll be teaching from Romans 5:

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,  through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  Romans 5:1-2

There is no greater blessing than to know that I have peace with my Creator, access to His grace, and the hope of glory through Jesus Christ.

From my family, and from the leaders and staff at Calvary of Wilmington, we pray you have a blessed Thanksgiving day.  (and, if you don't have anywhere to go, you're welcome to join us at Calvary of Wilmington for Thanksgiving meal! CLICK HERE for info)

The Promise - Romans 4:13-25

(to listen online CLICK HERE)

“It’s all about Faith”

The Promise

Romans 4:13-25

What is a promise?

1.         A promise is a commitment to do something, or not do something.

a.    “I promise I’ll come pick you up for church.”

b.    “I promise not to leave you..."

c.    It's a commitment.

2.         In legal terms, an exchange of promises is legally enforceable; When you sign a contract, you're obligated to fulfill the terms of that contract.

a.    If you fail to fulfill the terms of that contract, you can be held legally liable. You may have to pay damages.

3.         We’ve all made promises, hopefully we’ve kept our promises, but if we’re honest, we’d all have to admit that we’ve made promises we didn’t keep.

a.    One man said: Promises are like babies:  easy to make, but they’re hard to deliver.

Sola Fide - Romans 3:27-4:12

(Click HERE to listen online)

“It’s all about Faith”

Sola Fide

Romans 3:27 - 4:12

For the next three weeks our topic will be on faith:

• 4:1-12  Sola Fide: Justification through faith alone
• 4:13-25  The Promise received through faith
• 5:1-11  Peace through Faith

1.         Last week we talked about two words: justification and propitiation.

a.    If you missed that message, you can get it from my website clayritter.com

b.    Justification - status - “just as if I had never sinned - the greatest need of mankind, to be justified, to one another, and with God.

c.    When something happens between two people, they seek to be understood, they seek to justify, they want to be reconciled.

2.         Paul is telling us “You’re right to want to be justified before God, to be right with God… But you’re not going to accomplish it by obeying the rules, doing good things for God, or by going through a ritual. “

a.    The ONLY WAY to achieve the status of being right with God is through the process of propitiation…

b.    Meaning:  Receiving what Jesus did on the cross.  His death, burial, and resurrection.

How the bible is crazy accurate - Ezekiel 29

Earlier this year during our “Basics” series, I taught a message on the bible, and why we can trust it (listen HERE).  In that message, I noted that one of the key reasons we can trust the word of God is its predictive accuracy: Every prophecy given in the bible has come to pass with 100% accuracy!

Today I ran across two small prophecies related to Egypt, buried in the book of Ezekiel, that reminded me of what Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away” (Matt 24:35).

The first prophecy is in Ezek 29:14-15:

I will restore the prosperity of Egypt and bring its people back to the land of Pathros in southern Egypt from which they came. But Egypt will remain an unimportant, minor kingdom. It will be the lowliest of all the nations, never again great enough to rise above its neighbors. Ezek 29-14-15

In this prophecy God is telling Ezekiel that He will use Nebuchadnezzar to crush Egypt, but after forty years He will bring the Egyptians back to their land, however “Egypt will remain an unimportant, minor kingdom.  It will be the lowliest of all the nations, never again great enough to rise above its neighbors.” This was spoken during a time when Egypt was a strong nation with a long history of being a mighty empire.  Today Egypt is still a country (just as God said), but she has never regained her previous glory and power.  With an economy in shambles, Egypt is one of the lowliest of nations in that region.

The other prophecy is contained in verse 21:

“And the day will come when I will cause the ancient glory of Israel to revive, and then, Ezekiel, your words will be respected. Then they will know that I am the Lord.”  Ezek 29:21

Think about it, Israel is once again nation, and it’s the strongest nation in that region (economically and militarily).  No one messes with Israel.  And what about Ezekiel’s words?  True to His promise, Ezekiel’s words are part of our bible today, the most widely printed and sold book in all of history.  His words are studied by scholars and laymen alike, and Ezekiel is held up as one of the major prophets in the bible.

Jesus was right:  “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away” Matt 24:35

Pastor Clay

The Two Most Important Words in the Bible - Romans 3:1-26

(To listen online click HERE)

The Two Most Important Words in the Bible

Romans 3:1-26

1.         Earlier this year a study was released by the Australian National University on the effects of smoking.  The study found:

a.    Two thirds of deaths in current smokers can be attributed to tobacco use

b.    Smoking reduces life expectancy by 10 years

c.    Light smokers also face double risk of early death

2.         In response to this study, the tobacco industry released a statement:

“These findings, haven’t been substantiated by our own research.”

3.         In a similar fashion, people will often put up a smokescreen when asked about their eternal destination …

a.    “I believe in God… I’ve been good… I’ve tried to live a good life…”  would be the typical response...

4.         But Paul has blown away that smokescreen, being the equal opportunity offender:

a.    The immoral person:  You’re guilty of sin and deserve judgment!

b.    The moral person:  You’re guilty of sin and deserve judgment!

c.    The legalist:  You’re guilty of sin and deserve judgment!

d.    Even the Jew, who have the law and the prophets: You’re guilty of sin and deserve judgment!

5.         Harsh stuff? We need to realize that Paul isn’t on a mission to destroy people, or drive them into depression…

a.    “I’m such a terrible person, I should just slit my wrists and end it all!”

b.    No Paul is leading up to something, something big, something important that he wants the reader to understand.

6.         Paul is like a prosecutor in a courtroom, taking the jury on a journey of facts leading up to the closing argument.

a.    In his closing argument Paul will reveal what may be the two most important words in the bible. (Want to know what they are? I'll tell you a little later!

b.    But in the lead up to his closing argument, Paul poses some rhetorical questions, questions that he perceives the reader may ask, and then he proceeds to answer those questions:

Dealing with Discouragement

Everyone gets discouraged from time to time.  Whether it's with our life, our job, our family, even our church.  A wise man once said to me "Everything in life has some part that stinks; 80% may be good, 20% stinks.  If we focus on the 20% that stinks, before you know it - EVERYTHING STINKS!"

Its true!  If we would take an honest assessment of where our head is at when we're feeling negative or discouraged, we'd find that we're probably focusing on the 20% of our life / our job / our church that stinks, instead of the 80% that is a blessing.  I can come home after a wonderful Sunday service where God was glorified, people made decisions for Christ, and if I start looking at all of the little things that went wrong, before I know it the entire service was a flop! Well, the service WASN'T a flop, I just had a stinky perspective!  I've learned that after a Sunday service, my wife and I need to come home and celebrate the WINS that week! (There'll be plenty of time to address the things that went wrong later!)

But what do you do when you're in that stinky place?  How do you come out of it?  A great answer is found in scripture, Hebrews chapter 10:

#1 Thank God for our salvation:

Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.  Heb 10:19-22

Because of our relationship with Christ, we now have access to the Holy Place, the Great Priest, our Lord Jesus Christ!

#2 Remember the hope that we have in Christ

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. Heb 10:23

When everything is wrong, there is one thing that is always right:  Our destination is Heaven!

#3 Encourage someone else:

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:24-25

I believe one of the most powerful things we can do is to find someone that is hurting, struggling, or suffering, and encourage them!  Call them and invite them for coffee.  Pray with them!  Find scriptures that will speak life into their situation!

That's my challenge for you this week:  Reach out to someone, and share the love / strength / hope of Christ with them.  Trust me, it'll change your perspective!

Pastor Clay

The Problem with Legalism - Roman's 2:17-29

The Problem with Legalism

Romans 2:17-29

(CLICK HERE to listen online)

1.         So far Paul has offended two groups of people:

a.    The immoral person

b.    The moral person

c.    Paul - the equal opportunity offender!

d.    Paul now turns his attention to the to the legalist.

2.         What is legalism?

le·gal·ism - excessive adherence to law or formula, dependence on moral law rather than on personal religious faith.

a.    Legalism can be very appealing to people that like structure, who like order, people that like to know where lines are so they don't cross them. 

3.         However Paul does have a significant concern with this form of religious practice;

a.    He has a concern for the person that believes they can earn their acceptance with God based on who they are, or what they do.

b.    It is religious performance, scrupulous and meticulous in its outward form, but inwardly, as Jesus described it, ‘filled with dead men’s bones.’

c.    I believe Paul is qualified to speak to this topic, as he was once very much a legalist, a Jewish Pharisee, the equivalent of being a religious lawyer.