It was weird…last night I thought to myself, “This Sunday I’m going to post one sentence for my Sunday gold nugget, just to change things up and get right to the point.” Then this morning, guess what the pastor decided to do? Start with his conclusion – the main point of his sermon…in one sentence. Crazy coincidence! He explained it by saying that all good sermons can be summed up in a single sentence.
Weeellll, as you all know by now…I can’t just stop at one sentence if I’ve got more to share. But I, Wordy McWordsmith, the queen of babble, the one who is never succinct…blah blah…will try my best to keep it short and sweet. So not counting these opening paragraphs, here are my (and the pastor’s) words to chew on this week:
Main point: God does not love the future/potential/to-be-improved version of who we can/should/will be, He loves us for who we are today…right in this moment.
In other words: We may not act like perfect Christians all the time, however, if we truly believe that we are not saved by our works but by God’s grace, God will help us fulfill our purpose of being a light in a dark world.
“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.” – Titus 2:11-14
I like my time of reflection and sharing it with you makes it that much more fulfilling. So sorry if most of these tend to be “preachy” or lengthy or just overwhelming. I just get so excited to share what I learn that it’s hard to control the word count. And because of that, I can’t say they’ll all be this short in the future, but I’ll try my best!
Briefly,
Laura
(wait, that doesn’t sound right…)