Several years ago I was asked to speak to a small group of leaders on the topic of Christian Leadership. In this talk I was asked to share my top five thoughts. Here is a summary…
The talk emphasizes that Christian leadership extends beyond mere influence, highlighting the importance of a close relationship with God, a servant heart, and character integrity. Effective leaders must care for their community and commit to making disciples, following Jesus’ teachings to foster spiritual growth and fulfill the Great Commission in their ministry.
Would you like to find salvation and peace with God? If we are thinking about God and His plan for our salvation, it is important to look at His book – the Bible.
When the Bible talks about salvation it touches on two main areas.
Being rescued from the penalties of sin.
Being brought in to right relationship with God.
In the Bible we see that when Jesus came and died on the cross. He came to pay the price for our sin. He took the punishment that was rightfully ours.
Jesus’ death opened the way for us to be forgiven of our sin and to be brought back into a right relationship with God. In a future tense it means that those those who put their faith and trust in Jesus will spend eternity with God.
The Bible tells us that salvation is found in Jesus Christ and He is the way to the Father in heaven.
Acts 4:12, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
John 14:6 says, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”.
Each of us must respond personally to God’s plan for our salvation. God played His part by giving His Son to die on the cross for us to pay the price for our sin. Our part is to receive what Jesus has done for us. God requires us to do three things to find salvation.
They can be described as the A, B, C of salvation –
A – Admit and Ask
We need to admit to God that we have sinned and fallen short of His standards and to ask for His forgiveness.
The Bible says…
Romans 3:23-24 – For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
1 John 1:9-10 – If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
When we admit to God that we have sinned and not fully followed Him or His ways, it is like a huge weight is lifted from our shoulders. We can know that we are right with God and our sins are forgiven.
B – Believe and Become
We need to believe in Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for our sin.
The Bible says…
John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
John 1:12 – Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
When we believe in Jesus and what He has done for us, we become God’s children and have the promise of eternal life with Him. We can know in this life that our eternal destiny is sorted out by God. God promises us this in the Bible.
C – Call and Confess.
We need to call on Jesus to save us and we need to confess Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.
The Bible says…
Romans 10:13 – Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
Romans 10:9-10 – That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
The final step in the ABC of salvation is to call and confess. We call out to Jesus to save us and we confess Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. This means we are trusting Jesus to save us from our sin (our Saviour) and we are asking Him to be our King and ruler of our life (our Lord).
Prayer to find salvation
Responding to God is as simple as praying a short prayer that expresses our thanks for what He has done, confessing your sin and asking Jesus to be our Lord and Saviour. You can pray this prayer right now.
Heavenly Father, I thank You that Jesus came and died on the cross for my sin. Right now I ask for Your forgiveness for all of the wrong things I have done in my life. Jesus, I believe You are the Son of God, that You died on the cross for my sin and that God raised you from the dead. Right now I surrender my life to You and I ask you to be my Lord and Saviour. Please guide me and lead me in all I do. Help me to live for Your Kingdom by the power of Your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Over the years I have had a lot of conversations with people about faith, life and God. Some have been with people who follow Jesus with all their hearts and I have been inspired by their faith and stories. They have uplifted me. Others have been with people who had a vague belief that maybe there is a God out there somewhere, but He is far off and distant or He is a harsh judge with a big stick waiting for us to mess up.
As I have reflected on these conversations and our Bible readings from today I have come up with three thoughts that I want to share.
1. We are truly saved by Grace
In our first reading from Ephesians chapter 2 we see that we are saved by grace through faith. This means we are saved by God’s mercy because of our faith in Jesus.
In our natural state our sin separated us from God. Paul tells us that we used to follow the ways of the world and lived to gratify the desires of the flesh. But God in His great mercy came up with a way for us to be right with Himself. Jesus paid the price for our sin by dying on the cross for us. God graciously provided a way for us to have our sin forgiven in Christ and come in to right relationship with Him.
As our reading says, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT). In His love the Father tells us we are saved by grace and we are welcome home.
2. We need to believe in Jesus as our Saviour
In our second reading we see that God says we have eternal life if we believe in Jesus. God did His part by sending His Son Jesus to die on the cross for us. Our part is to believe in Him, and trust Him as Lord and Saviour.
In John 3:16 the Bible says, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” Faith and trust in Jesus Christ means eternal life.
Many people think this is too simple – just believe in Jesus. They think they need to work for their salvation, follow strict rules or do some sort of penance. But believe me, purchasing our salvation was not simple for Jesus. He gave up everything. He was whipped and beaten. Mocked by those who watched on. He even gave up His own life. We just have to believe in Him and what He has done for us. The Bible tells us that this faith and belief brings eternal life.
3. Jesus came to save us, not judge us harshly
Another point from our second reading is Jesus came in to the world to save us, not judge us (John 3:17-18). To those who think God is a harsh God, who lives at a distance and judges us harshly, just need to look to Jesus. They need look afresh and see what He has done for us.
Jesus is God in person. Immanuel, God with us. In His love He died, so we can live. If God wanted our lives to be judged harshly, He could have done nothing and waited until the end of time to judge us all. But instead Jesus came to rescue us. God intervened in our situation. Luke 19:10 reminds us why Jesus came when it says, “For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.”
Jesus could not stand the thought of us not spending eternity with Him, so He left the glories of heaven to meet us where we are at. He did not come to hit us with a big stick, but to wrap His arms around us in love.
Closing reflection
The great message of the Bible is God’s incredible love for us and His desire to be in relationships with us all. He moved heaven and earth to make this happen.
Jesus came to earth, lived to show us what God is like, then stretched His arms out and was nailed on that cross. The nails pierced His hands and feet, but His love held Him there. Church, God’s grace can be summed up in the letters of the word G.R.A.C.E. – God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus.
The title of my Christmas message this year is “The Child with Four Amazing titles”.
Now in the Bible we see that Jesus is given many names. All of these names refer to some aspect of who He is and what He does. He is given names like the King of kings, the Lord of all lords, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Alpha and the Omega, the Lamb of God, the Bread of Life. He is also called the way, the truth and the life.
In today’s Christmas message I want to look at one verse from the Old Testament in the book of Isaiah. This verse was written some 700 years before the first Christmas, but it was written about Jesus. The verse comes from Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6.
It says, “For a Child is born to us, a Son is given to us. The government will rest on His shoulders. And He will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
In this verse the baby Jesus is given four amazing titles. Today, I want to look briefly at these titles.
1) Jesus is our Wonderful Counselor
Wonderful Counselor – what a great title. I don’t know about you, but sometimes in this life I need a wonderful counselor. Like most of us, sometimes I just don’t know what to do and I need help.
One of my favourite memory verses comes from Proverbs 3.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 also says, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the LORD. “And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
It is great to know that I can pray to Jesus and ask for His wisdom and His guidance. It is great to know I can call on someone whose thoughts are higher than my thoughts. When I do call on Him in prayer, I find that before long the right path to take opens up.
Not only is prayer a great way to find guidance, but also are Jesus’ words in the Bible. In His famous sermon on the mount we see there are so many great truths contained for everyday life.
A quick scan of the Sermon on the Mount shows us how to have the right attitude to life, how to pray, how to respond when people wrong us, how to live in a marriage relationship, how to use our money and possessions, how to be generous, and how to be a true follower of Jesus.
These are timeless truth for how to live, how to relate to each other and how to relate to God. In fact, when He finished His sermon people were amazed. Matthew 7:28-29 tells us, “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at His teaching, 29 for He taught with real authority–quite unlike their teachers of religious law”.
So not only can we pray and receive direction from our wonderful counselor Jesus, but we can also read His words in the Bible.
2) Jesus is our Mighty God
The second amazing title in this passage is mighty God. In His time on earth Jesus showed His power and glory in the way He lived and interacted with those around Him. Shortly after the sermon on the mount, Jesus moved out into the world and did a number of amazing miracles.
As we saw a few weeks ago, Jesus performed a number of miracles including…
In performing these miracles Jesus showed that mighty God is a title that sits well on Him. He healed the sick, drove out demons, calmed the storm and He even raised the dead. Jesus showed that He had power that is not of this world. He did things that no mortal man could do. He did things that only God could do.
At times in life when we feel weak and we don’t think we can do the things we need to do, it is great to know that we have Jesus we can call on for help and strength. The Bible tells is we can do all things through Christ who is our strength (Philippians 4:13).
This Christmas we know that help from “Mighty God” is just a prayer away.
3) Jesus is our Everlasting Father
The third title is “Everlasting Father”. This title shows that Jesus is eternal.
John 1:1-4 reminds us that Jesus is eternal. “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He existed in the beginning with God. 3 God created everything through Him, and nothing was created except through Him. 4 The Word gave life to everything that was created, and His life brought light to everyone.
When I first got interested in reading the Bible in my early 20s, I thought that Jesus came into existence when He was born at Christmas time to Mary.
Before long I realise that Jesus was there at the creation of the world. He was there when Adam and Eve were created. He was around when Noah build his ark, He was around when Moses led the people of Egypt to freedom, He was around the great kings and prophets walked the earth in Old Testament times. Then 2000 years ago He walked the earth to show us what God is like, to show us how to live, and ultimately to show us how much He loves us by dying on the cross for our sin. Now He has returned to heaven and He promises to come back for us one day. This is the great hope for all who trust in Jesus for their salvation.
Again, everlasting father is a wonderful title. It helps us to know that when we put our faith and trust in Jesus, we are not just trusting in a baby who grew into a man who walked the earth some 2000 years ago, but we are putting our faith in someone who is eternal and everlasting. And as Colossians 2:9 tells us, “For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body”.
Everlasting Father is a title that sits well on Jesus.
4) Jesus is our Prince of Peace
The final title in this verse is “Prince of peace”. Another great title that was given to Jesus.
It doesn’t take much to see that the world desperately needs a prince of peace. When we read the newspaper in the morning or watch the nightly news we see peace is needed. At times it is easy to get overwhelmed by it all.
However, when I get troubled by world events like terrorism, wars, floods, earthquakes, famine and the like, I close my eyes prayerfully and think about the prince of peace. The one who came from eternity, was born in a manger at Christmas, lived amongst us and gives us His peace.
There are two great verses that still my heart and mind when I am worried…
In John 14:27 Jesus said these words to His troubled followers when they were afraid, “I am leaving you with a gift–peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So, don’t be troubled or afraid.”
And in Philippians 4:7, the Apostle Paul who was one of the leaders in the early church said, “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Story of Peace
Long ago a man sought the perfect picture of peace. Not finding one that satisfied, he announced a contest to produce this masterpiece. The challenge stirred the imagination of artists everywhere, and paintings arrived from far and wide. Finally, the great day of judging arrived. The judges uncovered one peaceful scene after another, while the viewers clapped and cheered.
The tensions grew. Only two pictures remained veiled.
As a judge pulled the cover from one, a hush fell over the crowd.
A mirror-smooth lake reflected a perfect scenery of rolling hills with a perfectly blue sky. Along the grassy shore, a flock of sheep grazed undisturbed. Surely this was the winner.
The man with the vision uncovered the final painting himself, and the crowd gasped in surprise. Could this be peace?
A tumultuous waterfall cascaded down a rocky cliff; the crowd could almost feel it’s cold, penetrating spray. Stormy-grey clouds threatened to explode with lightning, wind and rain. In the midst of the thundering noises and bitter chill, a tiny tree clung to the rocks at the edge of the falls.
A little bird had built a nest in the elbow of that branch. Content and undisturbed in her stormy surroundings, she rested on her chicks. With her eyes closed and her wings covering her little ones who were oblivious to the storms, she manifested peace that transcends all earthly turmoil.
This picture was declared the unanimous winner.
Jesus, as the prince of peace, can give us peace. A true and lasting peace that is not of this world. It is the peace of heaven. If you want to experience true and lasting peace this Christmas, it is found in the prince of peace.
Closing
So, as I close, I want to wish you all a wonderfully happy, safe and blessed Christmas. It is my hope and prayer that this Christmas you will experience the love of the child who grew up to be a Saviour with four amazing titles – the wonderful counsellor, the mighty God, the everlasting father and the prince of peace.
If you have not made your connection with God, I would encourage you to click on the “Finding Salvation” link to find true and lasting peace this Christmas.
Over the last few weeks I have been doing my morning devotions from the Book of Ephesians. I have really enjoyed looking back into one of my favourite books of the Bible. I have been working my way through the major headings. The first heading is “Spiritual Blessings in Christ” and as you can see I have picked out three of the blessings we have in Christ – Chosen, Redeemed and Sealed by God.
Bible Reading – Ephesians 1:3-14
Spiritual Blessings in Christ
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
9 God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. 10 And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. 11 Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan.
12 God’s purpose was that we Jews who were the first to trust in Christ would bring praise and glory to God. 13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him.
Message points
Today I have three main points I want to share from this passage.
1. God has chosen us and adopted us
A great truth of the Bible is that we who are in Christ or Christians are chosen.
Verse 4 of the text says, “Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes.
In this simple verse there are four great truths.
Before the world was made we were on God’s mind
God loves us
We are chosen
God sees us as faultless in His eyes.
Paul tells us that God “chose” us to emphasize the truth that salvation depends totally on God. We are not saved by our own good works or because we deserve it, but because God is gracious and loving and chose to freely give us salvation. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross to pay the price for our sin and our faith and our faith and trust in who He is and what He has done, we are saved. And the good news is that because we are saved and in Christ, we are faultless in His eyes.
Verse 5 of today’s text tells us that, “God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure.”
Again, verse five has a number of great truths.
God decided in advance
We are adopted into His eternal family
It was His idea to save us
Our salvation gave Him pleasure
God has adopted us into His eternal family. He decided in advance to do this. We are now His children. John 1:12 says, “But to all who believed Him and accepted Him, He gave the right to become children of God.”
So, we are chosen, saved and adopted by God
2. We are redeemed by God
Verse 7 tells us, “He is so rich in kindness and grace that He purchased our freedom with the blood of His Son and forgave our sins.”
Redemption is an important word in the Christian faith. Redemption is about the buying back or release of an object or person. In the Bible redemption refers to God’s ransoming of believers through the death of Jesus Christ upon the cross and to all the benefits that this brings. So, Jesus paid the price on the cross to redeem us back to God.
Why did we need to be redeemed? We needed to be redeemed because we could save ourselves. When we talk about salvation we see that in our natural state without Christ we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and that this sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2).
Some people and some religions think they can redeem themselves by good works. They think if their good deeds out way their bad deeds, then God will accept them. The Bible tells us that salvation is not by good works, so no-one can boast. It is a gift from God (Ephesians 2:8-9).
This is where Christ comes in with His work on the cross. In Christ we have been freed. Through His death on the cross as a payment for our sin the price has been paid.
Colossians 1:13-14 “For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Mark 10:45 says, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
1 Timothy 2:5-6 tells us that, “There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men—the testimony given in its proper time”.
Jesus gave His life as a ransom for many. It is by Christ’s shed blood that our sins are forgiven. We celebrate this each week in communion. His death opened the way to God. He is the one mediator between God and mankind. Our redemption is 100% totally and completely paid for by the death of Christ.
3. We are sealed by the Holy Spirit
Verses 13 and 14 of today’s text tells us. “And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, He identified you as His own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom He promised long ago. 14 The Spirit is God’s guarantee that He will give us the inheritance He promised and that He has purchased us to be His own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify Him.”
Again, in these two verses there are more amazing truths.
The good news of Christ saves us
God identified us as His own by giving us the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee that we received an inheritance and we are His own people.
Ephesians 4:30b says, “Remember, He has identified you as His own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.”
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 also says, “It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, 22 and He has identified us as His own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first instalment that guarantees everything He has promised us.”
Romans 8:23 says, “And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as His adopted children, including the new bodies He has promised us.
The Bible describes the Holy Spirit as a deposit, a guarantee, down payment of what we will receive.
The Greek word used for sealed is sphragizō. This means to stamp (like with a signet or private mark) for security or preservation. In the ancient world seals were very important. If a letter was stamped with the King’s seal, or Caesars seal, it carried the full weight of the King. It has power. Much like a letter written on the letterhead of the Queen or the Prime Minister carries weight today.
The Holy Spirit is God’s guarantee, His stamp, His seal, that we belong to Him and He will do what He has promised to do in our lives. As believers we can look forward to the great day when are freed from our bodies and we will live forever with Him without pain, suffering or sin.
Because the Holy Spirit is our seal we can know we are saved. We can know we belong to God. We can know without doubt God will do all He promised.
4. Our salvation is all about God
Just before I finish and summarise my message today I want to share some points that really jumped out at me as I read this passage.
V4 – He chose us before the foundation of the world
V5 – He predestined us to be adopted
V7 – In Him we have redemption
V7 – In Him we have forgiveness of sins
V9 – And He made know salvation to us
V11 – In Him we were chosen and predestined
V13 – In Him we are sealed by the Holy Spirit
Our salvation really is about God and His desire to save us, forgive us and adopt us into His eternal family. We truly are chosen, redeemed and sealed.
Closing summary
So today we looked at Ephesians chapter 1. It is a great passage that assures us of a number of things. The three that we looked at today are…
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