Salem UCC

"A scared world needs a church without fear." -A.W. Tozer

This is one of your pastor's prayers for you: "For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,...that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ..." (Ephesians 3:14-19)

Jesus Christ didn't go to Lazarus's house and congratulate him for being alive. Jesus Christ came to Lazarus's tomb and commanded Him to live. Know what your part is in salvation. You'll tire yourself out with any attempt to earn it.... As Edwards said, we added nothing to our salvation except the sin that made it necessary. Hear and learn more from yesterday's sermon.

Sunday January 17, 2021 Holy Strategy for 2021 & Onward (Part 3): Jesus - Who Are You and What Are Your Interests?

PHILIPPIANS 3:7-8, "But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ..." "The more I behold God's glory in the gospel, the more lovely He appears to me. And the more lovely He appears, the more self[ishness] fades..." -Milton Vincent

HAVE YOU BEEN "EXPOSED BY THE CROSS"? Hebrews 4:13 - "...all things are open and laid bare to eyes of Him with whom we have to do." "While reviewing God's abundant saving grace on another occasion, Paul was prompted to confess that he was the "the foremost" sinner of all [1 Timothy 1:15].... Likewise, the deeper I go into the gospel, the more I [can] comprehend and confess aloud the depth of my sinfulness. A gruesome death like the one that Christ endured for me would only be required for one who is exceedingly sinful and unable to appease a holy God. Consequently, whenever I consider the necessity and manner of His death, along with the love and selflessness behind it, I am laid bare and utterly exposed for the sinner I am. Such an awareness of my sinfulness does not drag me down, but actually serves to lift me up by magnifying my appreciation of God's forgiving grace in my life. And the more I appreciate the magnitude of God's forgiveness of my sins, the more I love Him and delight to show Him love through heart-felt expressions of worship." -Milton Vincent Hebrews 4:13 - "...all things are open and laid bare to eyes of Him with whom we have to do."