Speaker: Bill Simpson

You have to drive the roots of your soul deep into the gospel, so that your thinking, your actions, & your identity are all shaped by it. The gospel must become a root that goes so deep that whatever seasons you pass through.

Does my life represent Jesus getting my first and best? Do I need to make a commitment that will change everything in my life? Does the commitment I’ve made to God say that He is important to me or that in everything He comes first?

It is possible to be in church regularly, a good moral person and still be wicked in God’s eyes because you are not using your time, talents and treasures for the reasons God gave them to you? The question is not how religiously active you are, or how much you give, but have you surrendered everything to God?

Christ is enough! In Christ we possess the fullness of God. Christ showed the ultimate love; conquered our ultimate enemy, & now sits at the ultimate place of power. So, once you have him, you have it all.

The warning is, if you’re not putting Jesus in the 1st place, you are destroying your own faith & the faith of your children. Jesus knew that no matter what else you say, until your commitment to Christ is a priority, it was all a sham. This is Paul’s goal.

JESUS does not deserve your leftovers! He deserves the 1st place in everything. He is FIRST; He went first, and He should be first in our lives.

This presence is coming sooner than we deserve, because we never deserve it. But presence does not come as soon as we desire. We are stuck in this sin-cursed world. We want God’s presence now. For now we wait. We wait for God to return sooner than we deserve but not as soon as we desire.

Without repentance, our hearts can grow hard & will turn away from God. Sin is deceitful & will trick you into thinking you are safe to continue living however you want. If there is any relational distance between God & you due to sin, drop everything that stands in your way & restore your relationship.

On the cross, God with us died for us. The One who was present was now absent. The Word that became flesh & died became the Savior who rose again & was glorified.
God came near but is still far. God came to our present but remains in our future. Jesus is the antidote to absence.