Chaos in the Church!

This morning I went to a new church in the area I just moved to. It was a traditional service. The sermon was titled Our Salvation is based upon.... The pastor opened his message with a story of a conversation he recently had with his son. The son asked him if he had to go to church to go to heaven. After all, he was a pretty good guy and did lots of good things. He asked his dad if someone like Jeffrey Dahmer, who had done horrible things but repented and found God before he died would make it into heaven before him?

A child sitting in the front yelled out "yes!" The pastor and the congregation just about lost it. The pastor collected his notes and said "clearly, this message has been received here!"

The message did continue with his message. He said his son was asking if behavior was enough.

The pastor turned to several places in the Scriptures to indicate the opposite. First, Luke 18:9-14.

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men--robbers, evildoers, adulterers--or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.' "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.' "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

The pastor said that we should measure ourselves against God, not others. He also said that the prayers of the proud are not heard.

It reminded me that Christianity is quite humbling. It requires my testifying to God my weakness, my sins, my inability to make myself righteous.

Next the pastor turned to Luke 18:18-23

A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" "Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good--except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'" "All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said. When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.

The rich young ruler tried to prove his righteousness by his works. Jesus pointed out that while impressive, it wasn't good enough.

Next we turned to John 21:15-17

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?" "Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my lambs." Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?" He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep." The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you." Jesus said, "Feed my sheep.

Peter is told to feed Jesus' sheep. To care for those who belong to God.

Next, John 14:15.

If you love me, you will obey what I command.

I think the order here is quite important. Jesus says that because we love him, we will obey, not that in order to receive His love, we must obey or that to love we must obey.

Next we moved into our we receive salvation. We turned to 1 John 5:1-5, 13.

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

Our salvation is not based on anything that we do, but on what God has done. If you believe, then you have it. You can know.

The pastor said that his son didn't know if he was saved. He asked him if he accepted Jesus as his savior. The son said yes. The preacher said then you have it, you just didn't know it.

The sermon started with the question "do I have to go to church to go to heaven." The pastor turned the question around as he said that this place isn't the church, we, the followers of Jesus, are the Church. He turned the question to "why do we gather weekly to worship together?" He listed various reasons.

-We say we can worship anywhere, but do we?
-The service provides an atmosphere to worship
-The service reminds us of God's love
-The service reminds us that we are family
-The service reminds us that we are not alone
-The service reminds us that God is still the ruler
-In sermons, sunday school, and Bible study, we learn about God
-Going to the service allows us to witness to others both in the service and those who know we go
-We like to be told that we are loved
-The service is a way of telling God that we love him.

I look forward to returning to this church.