It seems that our pastor gives me so much great material for blog posts that I do not need to come up with very many of my own. He is fearless in his proclamation of the Word of God, and he is a great blessing to the people of Grace Bible Church. The following is excerpted from his sermon, "A New and Living Way," based on Hebrews 9:19-25, which he preached on Sunday evening, 11/11/12.
...I'm thrilled tonight to have as many young people as we have here because you young people all need to understand that this is not Sunday school games. This is not a bunch of entertainment, fun and games, and a joke.
The problem with the American church is we've made the American church all about entertainment and market-driven, and we try to win people in and woo them in by entertaining them. We start getting them on jumping jamborees when they turn two years old. Soon they're in fifth grade and there's more entertainment. Soon they're in high school where there's nothing but rock and roll music and dances and hollering and whooping and rejoicing and entertainment, and then soon they turn eighteen and they find out the world is a whole lot more entertaining than the church. And 90% ... 90% of young people who are growing up in churches today are abandoning the faith. And perhaps they're abandoning the faith because no one is willing to stand and tell them that if they reject the Lord Jesus Christ and do not come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, if they reject and turn away from Him, there is nothing for them except for fearful judgment, and that is eternal judgment in hell.
And you young people need to understand that at Grace Bible Church we're not playing games with you. We're not manipulating you. We're not doing everything we can to somehow woo you in and get you to be members simply because we want you to be here.
We want you to know that we want to teach the Scriptures because Jesus Christ is a great Savior, and He provides a wonderful salvation, and if you turn from Him and if you turn from His salvation, there's nothing for you but fearful judgment for all eternity, and that is a burning, literal hell that Jesus Christ knew so much about that He left heaven to come to this earth and deliver you from that hell.
You must, you must believe in Jesus Christ. And it's not just the children that are here. It's also the adults ... this great Savior Jesus is someone to believe in, someone to be trusted, someone to give our life and soul to ... It's a fearful thing, fearful thing, to fall into the hands of the living God.
... It is high time for the American church to get serious about this warning.
And that would mean that 90% of the churches they are growing up in have abandoned the faith. Based on limited observation, that sounds about right. I am glad to hear there is one in Colorado that is not shirking from truth.
ReplyDeleteGrace and peace.