SPIRITUAL DUMPSTER DIVING
(AND FIVE WAYS TO AVOID IT)
Philippians 3:7-8

INTRO:

Good evening. The text for our thoughts this evening is in Philippians 3:7-8 the Apostle Paul said – “7. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8. But indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ”.

In these verses Paul contrasts the things he held as significant in his previous life outside of Christ, with those things he gained by being in Christ. He says all of the things that I held as valuable outside of Christ, I now count these things as lacking value, considering what I am gaining in Christ.

Paul also said that when he considers the immeasurable gain he has in Christ; “I count these things (these things outside of Christ) as rubbish so that I may gain Christ.”

I think that word rubbish is significant. I want to just take a minute to point it out here,
if you look at what the Greek word (skü'-bä-lon) that we translate here as “rubbish” means “that which is thrown to dogs”. These are filthy scraps, things not fit for human consumption—things today that you might find in a trash can or dumpster.

There are people today that I might call archivists to be polite, others might call them hoarders. A Christian can be a hoarder of things in their past life when they refuse to throw those things away. Usually as a person matures they grow in understanding and throw that useless refuse of their worldly life away. Yet today, many Christians engage in what I refer to as spiritual dumpster diving.

By that I mean they frequently return to the sinful ways of their past life outside of Christ.
Disregarding the eternal blessings they enjoy in Christ, it’s a mystery sometimes how we do it. I say we because we all do it from time to time. Somehow we find our way back into that dumpster. How we find enjoyment in the “rubbish” of that dumpster is a mystery.

Proverbs 26:11 says: “As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.” Merriam-Webster defines folly as a “lack of good sense or normal prudence and foresight”. Since folly is a lack of good sense, then repeating our follies is shear madness. Mark Twain said: “If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you always got.”

It is madness that we’re going back in that dumpster. Every time we dive into the spiritual dumpster, we repeat our follies. In a spiritual sense it is as grotesque as a dog consuming its own vomit.

I want to speak to you today about the dangers of spiritual dumpster diving, and more importantly five ways that we can avoid doing it.

I. Way 1—Standing firm in the Word. The first way that we can avoid spiritual dumpster diving is by standing firm in the Word.
A. Galatians 5:1 says “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.”
1. In the context of this verse Paul was warning the Christians in Galatia who were trying to bind on parts of the Mosaic Law—specifically circumcision.
2. Paul says to the Galatians; you have been freed from the controlling nature of the Law, and are living under the freedom of God’s grace.
3. However for some, God’s grace apparently wasn’t sufficient. They just had to hold on to parts of the Law, including circumcision. They wanted to dive back into that spiritual dumpster.
i. Of course they didn’t have dumpsters back then, but they had piles for rubbish where they threw out scraps for the dogs.
4. Paul essentially told them that you can’t have it both ways—you can’t be a Christian living under grace, while allowing yourself to be bound by the Law.
B. Listen carefully to what Paul had to say about that. Galatians 5:2-4 – “2. Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. 3. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. 4. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” There are two points that we need to take away from these verses:
1. Point 1–-We can fall from grace. The notion of “once saved-always saved” is garbage. Promoted by some denominations, it is false doctrine, and extremely dangerous. You CAN fall from grace through unrepentant disobedience.
2. Point 2–-One of the ways that we can fall from grace is by adhering to or following false doctrine. We have to be mindful about that. We can’t be naïve about it.
C. Today, many so-called Christians have become dissatisfied with the sufficiency of God’s grace, and the absolute authority of His Word.
1. They think they can do things that are contrary to God’s Word, as long as their heart is in the right place. Ever hear that?
2. Is that right? I mean, you can do whatever you want. God knows what’s in your heart and as long as your heart is in the right place you are good, right?
3. No! That’s WRONG! We absolutely have to do what God’s word tells us to do. If we do not obey then we have no love for God.
D. We have no authority to deliberately deviate from God’s Word, not even one tiny bit, in any way, shape or form.
1. In fact, the scriptures warn us about those who deviate from God’s Word, not just the consequences but to be mindful of it.
2. Paul told Timothy in chapter 4 verses 1 and 2 of First Timothy: 1 Timothy 4:1-2 “1. Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2. speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,”
3. Look around us at how many different denominations there are today. We have thousands out there.
4. Sometimes there are even congregations of the Lord’s church that get off track. Rather than adhering to God’s perfect and Holy Word, many churches today chose to follow unscriptural doctrines.
E. What’s that all about?
1. The answer is as simple as it is complicated. For those so-called Christians that lose their way, it’s not about doing what God wants us to do. It’s about doing what...they...want to do.
2. For the same reason, many congregations today seek out preachers and teachers who tell them what they want to hear, rather than what they should hear.
F. We as Christians must not fall into the trap of telling people what they want to hear.
1. This is very, very dangerous stuff, brothers and sisters.
2. Those who stand up in the pulpit and preach and those teach others have an obligation in the things that are taught—the obligation to tell people what is in God’s Word.
3. James 3:1 warns that those who teach the Word will incur a stricter judgment. This also includes preachers in that context.
4. Yes, God holds preachers and teachers of God’s word accountable for being more worried about tickling people’s ears then delivering His Word in context.
5. God holds all of us accountable for holding fast to His Word.
G. One of the greatest commendations in scripture for holding fast to the word is given to the Bereans.
1. I’m sure we’re familiar with that. Acts chapter 17. Paul says they received the word with great eagerness and turned around and searched the scriptures to make sure the things they were being taught were truthful.
2. God doesn’t give us a free pass because we follow unscriptural doctrines. We don’t get to claim ignorance of the word.
3. God holds us all accountable, ALL, for knowing the Word of Truth and studying the word, but more importantly for living up to the word, for following the word without any deviation.
4. Jesus said "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.’” Matthew 4:4
5. Every time that we fail to stand firm in our faith, and follow God’s Holy word, we dive back into that spiritual dumpster. Even the slightest slip puts us back in the dumpster.
6. Every time that we partake of the contents of that dumpster, of things that are not true, we leave no room for the Word of God.
H. Are we going to fill our belly up on that stuff in the dumpster?
1. If you fill your belly up with that stuff you are going to leave no room in your heart for the Word of God.
2. If we do this often enough, we will eventually starve ourselves and die spiritually.
3. Let me be clear, we have to make a choice, to either live on the Word of God, or die trying to live on the contents of refuse.
I. To avoid that dumpster and to gain God’s approval 2 Timothy 2:15 tells us: (paraphrased) We must, first and foremost, be committed to being diligent students of God’s Holy Word—study to show yourself approved.
1. We must truly study it and see it in the context of the whole word.
2. As I have said before reading isn’t studying. It is a start but it is only a start. We can read the word and not fully understand it in context.
3. We can take verses and we can speak those verses out of context and have a totally different meaning than God intended us to have.
4. That’s on you, that’s on all of us.
J. Second, we must be committed to unashamedly and accurately handle God’s Holy Word.
1. We shouldn’t be ashamed of the Gospel. It is the path that leads us to salvation.
2. We have to be committed to accurately handling the Word.
3. Our failure to keep these commitments to God again puts us back in that spiritual dumpster every single time.
II. Way 2 -- Not practicing sin. The second way that we can avoid spiritual dumpster diving is by not practicing sin.
A. Let us consider 1 John 3:9 which says “Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.”
1. As long as one has believed in Christ, repented of sin, and been baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of sin, and as the consequence of such obedience God has added them to the church they have received gift of the Holy Spirit, - as long as such a person (here is the key) continues in that status, he will not sin.
2. We all sin and fall short of God’s glory. In other words there is no one here today, no one in this world, who hasn’t sinned or won’t inadvertently sin from time-to-time. No one is without sin.
3. I have to mention that many try to wrest something out this verse without considering the rest of scripture indeed without considering the rest of 1 John. John has already said, "if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us"; and "if we say that we have not sinned, we make God a liar"; and he urges us to confess our sins (1 John 1:8-10). He goes on to say, "if we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father in the person of Jesus Christ." John is not contradicting himself here in 3:9.
4. Christians must, with the help of God’s Word, try to avoid individual acts of sin. In fact all people have these lapses and when they do, they must humbly confess them to God, who will always forgive the penitent heart. In spite of that, no Christian can possibly be a deliberate and consistent sinner; no Christian can live a life in which sin is dominant in their actions or they are no longer acceptable to God.
B. However, notice what God is doing here in His inspired word. God draws the distinction between us slipping up, inadvertently sinning, and what I refer to as premeditated sin where we continue living in a state of deliberate sin. Premeditated sin only leads us down the wrong path—the path of destruction.
C. Listen carefully to what the writer of Hebrews says about this.
1. Hebrews 10:26-27 He says “26. For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27. but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.”
2. God holds us all personally accountable for our own salvation, with fear and trembling.
3. God takes a dim view, a very dim view, of those, who in spite of their knowledge of the truth of His Holy Word, continue to sin willfully.
4. You don’t get to do that. If fact, those who continue sinning willfully after knowing the truth of God’s Word, after being exposed to the truth, after living the truth, should expect only one thing: the terrifying judgment of God and the fury of His fire.
D. Its one thing to not know it, but it’s another thing to know it and then go contrary to what you know—what God has told you. Still, many so-called Christians are living in a state of sin, while denying it. This is a dangerous game.
E. When we can’t admit that we are living in sin, we can’t have forgiveness of our sins. It’s a pretty simple principle.
F. As we read a moment ago in 1 John 1:8-10 [para] “If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.”
1. You see, it’s bad enough to lie to others. However, when we say that we have no sin, then we are lying to ourselves. We’re kidding ourselves.
2. On the other hand, when we admit that we have sinned then we can confess our sins, and when we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us, and to cleanse us from our unrighteousness.
3. You can’t repent of your sins if you insist on living in them. Scriptural repentance is Godly sorrow and in that moment we’re saying: God I’m going to turn away from the sin.
4. Not “God please forgive me” of the sin and keep on sinning. You don’t plan on going back tomorrow and ask Him for forgiveness for the same sin. That’s not how it works with God.
G. Ultimately, (Look at God’s Word.) if we say that we have not sinned, we do something horrible and incomprehensible: we make a liar out of God, and His Word is not in us. God has already told us that we have sinned and fallen short of His glory. God has told us that if we admit our sin we can confess our sins, we can repent of our sins and have forgiveness of our sin.
1. If we want to lie about it, then we’re making a liar out of God.
2. Let me assure you that making a liar out of God is not something that we want to be guilty of.
3. When we continue to practice sin, we are not just dumpster diving we are living in the filth of that spiritual dumpster. If we’re engaging in habitual and systematic sinning, we are taking up residence in that dumpster.
H. Brothers and sisters, many times in our lives we are faced with the choice of denying our sins and living in the filth of that spiritual dumpster, or confessing our sins and being cleansed from our unrighteousness.
1. We need to take the opportunity day by day to assess our lives, be sure we are on the right track, living in accordance with God’s Holy Word. Otherwise we will be caught in that spiritual dumpster.
I. It’s a choice that we all have to make. We’ll make it here today. We’ll make it when we go out of this building. We’ll make it many times this week.
III. Way 3 – Not letting pride get in the way of our relationship with God. The third way that we can avoid spiritual dumpster diving is by not letting pride get in the way of our relationship with God. Does anybody believe that pride can get in the way of our relationship with God? You bet it can.
A. James 4:5-8 says “5. Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously''? 6. But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'' 7. Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
B. Here is James clearly telling us something we need to know. Listen up, brothers and sisters, our God is a jealous God. He expects nothing less than all of our heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). He also expects our humility. He doesn’t reward us for our pride. He rewards us for our humility, with His magnificent grace. He gives grace to the humble not to the prideful.
1. We need God’s grace for two reasons: (1) because according to Romans 3:23 we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory, and (2) because according to Ephesians 2:1 without God’s grace, we are dead in our trespasses and sins -- with no ability to save our ourselves.
2. Read Ephesians chapter 2 when you leave here today. By the way two simple words change the equation of our being lost. Those words are BUT GOD. You read that and understand that we can’t do it ourselves. We need God.
C. Here’s something else that we need to understand about pride: it will eventually lead to our spiritual destruction.
1. I’m sure we’re all familiar with Proverbs 16:18-19 which says “18. Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. 19. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.”
2. We want part of something rather than all of nothing. Indeed, pride manifests itself in arrogance, vanity.
3. Obadiah 1:3 says: “The pride of your heart has deceived you, you who dwell in the clefts of the rock, whose habitation is high; you who say in your heart, 'Who will bring me down to the ground?'” Ultimately, if you are arrogant, prideful, vain, you can’t have your heart in the right place. It’s our arrogance that draws us away from God.
4. Psalm 10:4 tells us that “The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.”
5. If we’re a prideful individual we are denying God. We should be humble because without God we have no way to save ourselves.
D. Simply stated, as long as we hold onto our pride, our hearts and minds can never be in state that will allow us to be in a right relationship with God. When we allow pride to get in the way of that relationship, we make a choice to dive back into that spiritual dumpster.
E. The filth of that spiritual dumpster brings us down every single time, and may ultimately cost us our soul. James offers us this simple solution.
1. He says “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you”. James 4:10
2. You don’t have to worry about lifting yourself up. God does that for you, but He asks you to humble yourself—acknowledge that you can’t do it without Him. Be humble.
F. If we want to stay out of the spiritual dumpster, then we must humble ourselves in the presence of God. If we do that, God will lift us up in magnificent fashion. Guaranteed—the scriptures teach that.
IV. Way 4 – Not allowing our pursuit of material things to get between us and our relationship with God. - The fourth way that we can avoid spiritual dumpster diving is by not allowing our pursuit of material things to get between us and our relationship with God.
A. Does anyone see the problem with material things in life? They are not bad in and of themselves, but it is the pursuit of those things, it is the focus on those things that get us in trouble with God.
1. 1 Timothy 6:7-10 says “7. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. 9. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. 10. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”
2. It is a fact—we come into this world with nothing and we leave this world with nothing. I’m sure we’ve all heard the cliché about no hearses being followed by moving vans.
3. Whatever you’ve accumulated in this life doesn’t follow you into the next life. If you worry about accumulating worldly treasures upon your death they will do you no good. Those who can’t find contentment in the basics will continue to focus their time and energy on material things, and will regularly fall into temptation as Paul tells Timothy.
B. Scripture makes it very clear that money is not in and of itself evil, but the pursuit of money, the love of money is root of all sorts of evil.
1. Why? Because those who long for money are drawn away from God. How can you be focused on material things and be focused on God? If you try to have a dual focus neither gets your full attention.
2. Think of the love of money and the love of God as both character traits. However these are character traits that cannot coexist. If you love money you can’t love God. If you love God you won’t love money.
3. Notice what Hebrews 13:5-6 says about this: “5. Let your conduct be without covetousness, and be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you.'' 6. So we may boldly say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?''”
i. It is a serious thing when we lack confidence in God because we are no longer trusting that God will take care of us and provide for us. When we are no longer trusting in God guess who we’re trusting in?
ii. We’ve already said that there’s nothing we can do to provide salvation for ourselves. We’re dead in our trespasses and sins if we don’t trust God, if we don’t follow Him, if we don’t make God a priority in our lives then we cannot have salvation.
C. In Luke 12:16-21 we find Jesus telling the parable of the rich man.
1. The rich man was consumed with accumulating material wealth.
2. What happened to him? At a time when the rich man was least expecting it, God demand his soul. According to Luke 12:20 God said to him “You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own what you have prepared?”
3. The answer to that, is the people that are left behind. If you have heirs great, if not the state gets it. When we die the ones left behind may benefit from our material wealth, but it won’t do us one bit of good.
4. However, it certainly can cost us our soul.
D. This is why Jesus said "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
1. The treasures of this world are temporal, they will eventually be destroyed, but the things you store up in heaven, by having your heart in the right place, by doing the will of God, are eternal treasures.
2. They’re never destroyed. Jesus tells us that our heart goes wherever our treasure lies.
3. If our treasure is here in this world, then our heart will be in this world.
4. If our treasure is in heaven, then our heart will be in heaven.
5. Brothers and sisters, in that very moment when we take our focus away from storing up treasures in heaven and begin to focus on accumulating earthly treasures, we dive back into that filthy spiritual dumpster.
V. Way 5 – Remaining focused on what lies ahead. - The fifth and final way that we can avoid spiritual dumpster diving is by remaining focused on what lies ahead.
A. What lies ahead of course if you’re a faithful Christian, is our prize of the crown of life. He guarantees us eternal life in heaven.
1. Paul, who was a great servant of Jesus Christ, said in Philippians 3:13-14 – “Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet (talking about his prize of eternal life); but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” [para]
2. Paul never took his prize for granted, but one thing he did do was to forget what was behind him. It was a day to day work for him as it is for us. He forgot what was behind him so that he could focus on what was ahead of him.
B. You’re out on the highway driving down the road at 70 miles per hour and you start looking behind you, what’s going to happen? How long will it be before you crash? Maybe if you’re lucky you can get a few hundred yards down the road.
1. The point is you can’t get ahead without looking ahead. If you’re not focused on what is ahead for you, you can’t attain your prize of eternity in heaven.
2. By looking ahead, Paul was able to press on toward his prize. Paul often used analogies like running a race.
3. If you look at that in the Greek it carries the context of a long race, a marathon, not a sprint. That’s the way life is. It is not a sprint. It is a marathon. We have to stay on the course. We have to keep our eyes focused on the prize.
C. In order for us to answer that upward call like Paul, we cannot continue to live in our previous state.
1. We must be spiritually changed. A change has to occur in our life and we have to sustain that change.
2. 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
3. When we are in Christ, we are supposed to be new spiritual people.
4. For us, the worldly things of our former lives outside of Christ have passed away, and they are replaced by new and magnificent spiritual things. These are the things God wants us to stay focused on.
D. For this reason, Romans 12:2 tells us that we are to no longer be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds, (why?) so that we may prove what the will of God is—that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
1. In order to avoid getting caught up in worldly things we must continuously look ahead.
2. Don’t be caught driving down the highway at 70 miles per hour looking behind you. Or at your cell phone for that matter. It doesn’t work.
3. In this regard, Isaiah 43:18 says "Do not call to mind the former things, Or ponder things of the past.”
4. Similarly, Proverbs 4:25 says “Let your eyes look directly ahead And let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.”
E. We sing the song about “When Jesus comes to reward His servants. It doesn’t matter whether it be noon or night. Is He going to find us watching with our lamps all trimmed and bright?”
1. Here’s the point: in that very moment that we stop looking ahead, we run the risk of spiritually crashing.
2. This is a personal belief of mine, but I believe it is scripturally consistent: that looking behind is symptomatic of a lack of trust in God and His promises. Proverbs 3:5-6 says “Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.”
3. God doesn’t want us to trust Him halfheartedly. He expects us to trust Him with all of our heart. Proverbs is very clear. If you want God to be all in on you, you have to be all in on God. It is a two way street and God expects us to be all in on Him with all our soul, our heart, our mind, our strength.
4. If we are giving everything to God, if our whole focus is on God, it doesn’t leave us time for a lot of things that we shouldn’t be focused on.
F. God doesn’t want us to rely on our own understanding.
1. Here’s the reason why: His understanding is infinitely greater than ours. We must acknowledge that.
2. The second that we think we are smarter than God, that we’re wiser than God, or that we know better than God, then that’s the point where we lose God in our lives. Indeed, God has laid out a straight path that we must follow in order to realize our eternal reward in Heaven.
G. Still people go on and choose to not trust God, and instead choose to follow the crooked paths of this world.
1. Brothers and sisters, I tell you that every single time we fail to place our trust in God, we make a choice to place our trust in ourselves and the things of this world. Then guess where we find ourselves—right back in the spiritual dumpster.
2. Once again, we dive back into the filth of that spiritual dumpster. God wants us to place our focus on the things that are right in His eyes.
H. How do get our focus right? I can’t say it any better than Paul did in his letter to those in Philippi. Philippians 4:8-9 “8. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy meditate... on... these... things. 9. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, (not only let your mind and your heart dwell on these things, but do these things) and the God of peace will be with you.”.
1. A lot of stressful things happen in our lives—our job, our families, the neighbors, our car, whatever. If you want peace, look to God. God will give you peace.
2. If we dwell on the things that are excellent in the sight of God, we will not have time to be focused on things that can harm us spiritually.
3. If we practice the things that are right in the sight of God, we will stay out of that spiritual dumpster, and God will bring us a sense of spiritual peace and contentment. Keep your eyes on the prize and stop dumpster diving.

CONCLUSION:
As we wrap this up today, I want to again underscore the five ways that we can stop spiritual dumpster diving.

I will hit them quickly.
First Way—Standing firm in the word. 2 Timothy 2:15, we do this by diligently studying God’s Word, and by handling it accurately.
Way 2—Not Practicing sin. 1 John 1:7 we do this by walking in the Light of God.
Way 3—Not letting pride get in the way of our relationship with God. James 4:10 let’s us know if we humble ourselves in the presence of God, if we admit our needs to God, if we live our lives in a spirit of humility, God will ultimately exalt us.
Way 4—Not allowing our pursuit of material things to get between us and our relationship with God. In Matthew 6:20 Jesus tells us we do this by storing up treasures in heaven, with the way we live in this life.
Finally Way 5—Remain focused on what lies ahead. Proverbs 3:5-6 we must trust in the Lord with all of our heart and let Him make our path straight.

If you’re here this evening and you have not confessed Jesus as your Lord and Savior, if you have not been baptized for the forgiveness of your sins, the scriptures are very clear on this point—you aren’t saved.
We encourage you to take these necessary steps to secure your salvation today.
We have no promise of tomorrow— we don’t know the day or the hour that our soul may be required of us.

If you’re here this evening and you need to confess a public sin or simply need the prayers of the congregation, we encourage you to allow us to pray with and for you.

If you have a need, won’t you come forward as we stand and sing.
Invitation song: 637—Will Jesus Find Us Watching

Reference sermon: Mike Pirrera