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Read 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. Reflect What does it mean to be justified and sanctified? Theologians use big words all the time. You may have heard them use the terms justification and sanctification. For example, one of our recent messages quoted, “For with the heart o

Read Romans 10:9-10 …because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. Reflect What does it mean to believe in Jesus? What specific beliefs about Jesus result in our salvation? When we go back to the Bible, we read over and over again that you must believe in Jesus to have eternal life. But I

Read John 20:30-31 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Reflect Why isn’t it enough to simply acknowledge that there is a God? Why must a person place their faith in Jesus in order to be saved? You have to make a decision about Jesus. Who exactly was He? Historically, there

Read Romans 3:23-25a …for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. Reflect How well do you tend to recognize sin in your own life? When you become aware of your sin, how does it make you feel? Do you want to be immediately unpopular? Say that all humans are sinners from birth. Trust me, I’ve learned

Read Acts 16:30-31 Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” Reflect Growing up, what were you taught about salvation? Did that teaching match up with Scripture? Many people want to know what we have to do to be saved. Most religions have certain steps that you have to follow and different rules that you must adhere to in order to go to heaven. To make it su

Read 2 Corinthians 5:6-9 So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. Reflect Have you ever wanted to know the future? Why or why not? Have you ever prayed a prayer like this: “God, I know you have my whole future m

Read 1 Peter 1:6-9 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes through it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with g

Read Acts 9:10-12, 17a Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.”...So Ananias departed and entered the house… Reflect W

Read Luke 1:30-33 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Reflect If you were Mary or Joseph and had just received the new