Christ's salvation a free gift from God
Arthur Johnson (known as Bill) from Rathdrum invited every pastor in Coeur d'Alene to share with him "on the record" the greatest gift that God has ever given to humanity. That gift is his undeserved love given for us in the person and work of Jesus.
Unfortunately what happened is now it looks like two Christians are arguing about the same faith. How disturbing is that! I think that is one of the reasons why people don't like to go to church. Namely, because of the behavior of Christians who sometimes though well meaning make it really difficult for people to see the true message of the Christian faith because of so much infighting. I mean, shouldn't the church be about fulfilling the original mission of Jesus to bring love and mercy from God to the world? This is my whole life's goal. Please allow me to clarify what I believe.
I totally understand that we live in a world that is constantly measuring us, keeping score, and judging all kinds of things about us. Even in our own lives we do not measure up to the standards we set for ourselves.
That is why I belong to a church that is committed to sharing the message of God's grace with all people. We believe that God is not keeping score in our lives and that He does not hold our sins and struggles against us because of Jesus. Jesus completely loves us and changes God's attitude toward us and our attitude toward each other. That is grace, and that is what we are all about.
We are committed to connecting people with Jesus in a personal relationship. We know that for many people, religion is about a set of rules. We want you to know that Christ the King is excited about your relationship with Jesus. We want you to know Jesus, personally.
Christ the King understands that people are looking for answers to life's tough questions. We believe that we have something that not only can help us in our lives, but that can have a lasting impact on our lives. We love and use the Bible at Christ the King.
If you want to know about how it is that we are in relationship with God, the most dominant metaphor for our life with God in the Bible is that He is our gracious Heavenly Father and we are His children. Just look at Galatians 4:4-7.
So ask yourself. Did you choose your family? The obvious answer is no. Though some people wish they could choose their relatives, unfortunately they cannot. Whether you are in the family or not is not your choice. The only choice you have in a family is whether to leave or not.
My friend Dale once said it best I think: "We are part of a family. Just as we cannot pick our earthly parents, we cannot choose to be God's child. God in His mercy chooses us and has adopted us. The only thing we can do with our earthly parents is walk away from our family. In the same manner, we can only choose to reject God and cannot choose to accept Him." Or as Jesus said it best in John 15:16: "You did not choose me, but I chose you!"
But as children we do have the ability to reject our heavenly Father. But if we do turn away (and we often do), he is always waiting for us and his love for us has never changed. Just look at Jesus's story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32.
So I guess what I am trying to say is: I am a part of a wonderful family of faith and Jesus's sacrifice on the cross for me paid my adoption papers to get into the family of God. Now as His child I understand my place in His house and know that He is in charge... and that's OK with me 'cause I would just mess it all up. And I am glad that He changed my heart (that is what repentance is). I needed that more than anything else in all the world - because my heart is not in the right place and I need someone to change my heart. God does that for me as a free gift. Thank God it wasn't up to me 'cause I couldn't afford it. My debt to God was simply too much. I needed my debt forgiven and that's what Jesus did... he paid for my sins and now I have adoption as His child!
Robert Sundquist is senior pastor at Christ the King Lutheran Church and School in Coeur d'Alene.