Dan Stillings sang a special song, Sunday morning. The Jubilee Singers sang in the evening. Pastor Bob Sorensen brought a message Sunday morning from Isaiah 6:8 and 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 he called, “The child of God can’t quit!”
Isaiah demonstrated his love for God and his agreement with God’s purposes when he volunteered to be a servant of the Lord. “Here am I; send me.” When any of us set out to serve the Lord, it must be done with the right motive. We should be motivated by love, not by a desire to impress our peers or by a sense of obligation. Paul the faithful apostle was constrained by love.
Because Jesus the perfect Saviour loved us he gave his life for us. That love should inspire us to faithfulness. Jesus also frees us from the deadly hold of sin to a joyful life. We can’t repay the debt we owe, but we can prove our love by living for him.
The love Jesus has for us renews us. If we are in Jesus Christ, “All things are become new.” Jesus said, “Ye must be born again.” If people think, “I’m okay,” and do not see a need to change, they miss this opportunity for renewal. With this renewal, priorities will be changed. Serving God will be part of the new life.
The world and our own logic say that we can not live this Christian life. That is true. On our own we can’t live it, but God does not quit. The Holy Spirit takes us up. We may need to let go of some “old things.” If we confess those “old things” God is faithful to forgive. Then we can get up and go on. When we get up each new day, we might express our gratitude for what Jesus does for us and pray, “Renew my love for you again today.” If we step out by faith to serve the Lord, God will work in us and bless us.
The love of Jesus reconciles us to the Father. Adam’s relationship with God was broken with God, but Jesus seeks to reconcile lost sinners to God the Father. Our job is to tell the world, “ I found Jesus.” Before the world will believe us, our “walk” must match our “talk.” We must be good ambassadors carrying the “Word” of reconciliation to a lost and dying world.
As a child of God we can’t just quit. We are to let God complete his work to perfect holiness in our lives. By God’s grace we can keep our testimony bright and clean. We can not do it alone, but if we ask help he will help. With God’s help we can avoid the first step into impurity. As long as we hold to the truth, we can live faithfully. The truth is that Jesus was made to became sin for us. We have his righteousness to sustain us and there is much still to be done.
