Hope for Sinners (Like Me)

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I will never forget the day I asked Christ to forgive me of my sin. When I was in eighth grade at Porter-Gaud School, I saw billboards all around Charleston advertising an upcoming event. Usually, the billboards I noticed were for the circus or a rodeo. This time, though, it was for a meeting being led by someone known as the chaplain of Bourbon Street. Later, I would come to know him as Bob Harrington. I begged my mom to take me to see him. for some reason, I was strangely drawn to the idea of listening to him preach. It's not because I liked church, I did not. I couldn't stand preaching. I used to count the lights in the chandeliers and pray for church to be finished as soon as possible.

I don't know why I hated church. I think I must have hated the idea of being inside when there were mini-bikes to ride, lawn tractors to drive, and waves to catch. There was so much more to life than wasting my time listening to a man tell me how awful a person I was, I knew that already. I knew I had sin problems. I had gotten into enough trouble at school, and I had been punished for it. I deserved what I got.

I seemed to get into more trouble than most of my friends. I'm sure to my teachers, I was "that" child. They certainly would have discussed my potential in the teacher's lounge and in staff meetings. They surely would have said that I could be so much better if I would behave, quit talking out of turn, and just apply myself.

Little did they know who I was inside. It wasn't simply a discipline problem. I certainly wasn't reared in an uncaring or abusive home, but I did have a problem. I wanted things my way. I hurt people, physically and emotionally. I cursed like a drunken sailor. I freely admitted that I hated my brother. I obeyed my parents and other adults in authority when they were looking...but when their backs were turned, I was another boy. I worshiped dirt bikes and motorcycles in general. I longed to be even worse...if I thought I could get away with it. Yup, that's who I was.

So, to me it was of utmost importance that I got to hear this man that seemed to have the ear of God when it came to getting my sins forgiven. Still, I knew there was no hope for me. I had sinned waaaaaay too much. I had even admitted to hating my brother. My grandparents were greatly concerned with my hatred for him, so they reminded me as a warning that those who hated could not go to heaven. They quoted to me book, chapter, and verse:

We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death. (1 John 3:14 HCSB)

So, I knew there was no hope for an unloving, brother-hating sinner like me. But, maybe, just maybe, there could be some way out of my eternal destiny. Maybe I could at least find myself in the coolest section of hell. Maybe... but, wouldn't that be too good to be true?

So, I went to hear Bob Harrington with a huge burden of sin on my back. Even though I was only 13 years old, I thought I had more sin piled up than most. As I took my seat in the balcony of the Gaillard Municipal Auditorium on that early spring night in Charleston, SC, I noticed there was an excitement in the air. I was already experiencing something I had never been a part of before... authentic church. People voices were buzzing, the music was exciting, and I was actually glad to be there.

I really don't remember much about that sermon. I couldn't even tell you what book of the Bible it was preached from, but I do remember these words at the end of the message, "If anyone of you would like to ask Christ into your life and have your sins forgiven..." That's all I needed to hear. "If anyone of you..." "Wait," I thought "Were there more people that needed their sins forgiven?" I actually thought that the preacher was speaking directly to me. Then, my mind drifted back to that verse my grandparents had shared with me...and once again I reminded myself... there was no hope... I was a hater. Haters don't get to be with God in heaven. Then, in what turned out to be a moment of clarity, I turned to my mom and asked if she wanted what he was talking about...forgiveness. She let me know that I could go forward if that's what I wanted to do. "Wait," I said to myself. "let me see, I'm supposed to go down front?" Well,if that's all it took, I was on my way. I jumped out of seat and made my way to the counselors as fast as I could. If forgiveness was available, I wanted it... and I wanted it right now!

The time it took me to walk down the aisle seemed to be only moments. Soon, I was at the front of the huge auditorium and was speaking with a lady who asked what I came forward for. I told her that I wanted what that man was talking about...forgiveness. She then escorted me backstage to what I now know as a counseling room where many others who had walked that same aisle that night were already. She helped me read through many Scriptures from the book of Romans. I then asked Christ to forgive me of my sin. In that moment in time, He did just that. My sin was forgiven. As much as I knew before that my sin had condemned me, I now knew that same sin had been forgiven. My sin that had weighed me down, had been lifted. Darkness was driven out by His light. Sin was displaced by His righteousness. Through faith, I knew that not only could my sins be forgiven, but they were forgiven.

What happened? I had experienced Romans 3:21-22 in my life:

But now, apart from the law, God's righteousness has been revealed -attested by the Law and the Prophets -that is, God's righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ, to all who believe (Romans 3:21, 22 HCSB)

I would never have been able to be good enough or do enough good works to ever get into heaven. That's because God could not allow one sin into His presence. Jesus Christ had paid my time through His death on the cross and His resurrection from a cold dark tomb three days later. I believed now, He did it FOR ME. My faith in Christ's work brought me forgiveness.

The hope that I could to be forgiven of my sin was never going to be found in me. That kind of hope is only found in Jesus. Through Him, my sin had met its match.

Have you trusted Him to forgive you? God brought you to this point and is asking you to make that choice right now. He may not come this way again. There is hope for you. Believe Jesus gave His life for you. Do it now before you do one other thing. It will be your greatest choice... It will be your greatest day... It will lift your heavy burden... You will never be the same...

Pastor Trey Rhodes

More of the Core of our beliefs from Romans this week. Don't miss one exciting week! Also, ask for your very own notebook when you get to Oceanside Church.

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Decadence Is in the Chocolate?

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Sin is one of those issues that gets everybody in the hot seat. Whether we speak against sin, talk about it, or even sin ourselves, we face it every day. What I see is that people have taken on the job of trying to make sin not nearly as wrong as it once was. We try our hardest to believe that sin is not so bad. That's because we know that God's boundaries would make it so that "sin might become utterly sinful" Romans 7:13, NIV). So we deal with it by speaking of sin in at least 2 ways:

1. the "that's not so bad" way of thinking - That's when way we change our vocabulary and actions to reflect the current socially acceptable morals of society. for instance, we no longer deceive, we tell white lies. We don't commit fornication, we "hook-up." We don't commit adultery, we have an "affair." We don't steal, we help ourselves. And we don't get drunk, we're just a little tipsy. Every one of those ways of saying things reflects the changing attitudes in our society that helps us deal with the tinges of guilt we can face with our ongoing sinful lifestyles.

2. the "delicious made decadent" description - That's when we take something like a piece of cake, and make it taste really good. When we describe it, we say it is "decadent" or "sinful" or "heathen." When we do that it can belittle the intended use of the word, making sin not seem as bad. Having an "affair" is no different than having delicious piece of cake. Both are decadent, right?

To understand decadence, we need go no farther than the lifestyles of the First Century Romans. Their lives have been shown to be people that thought little of family commitment, less of human life, and indulged illicit sexual appetites on a regular basis (Ever heard of Caligula or Nero?) Believe it or not, even large portions of the worship of their gods was built around the cults of Venus and her sacred prostitutes. But, we can't stop there, mankind has always been guilty of sinful lifestyles and debased living. From the excesses of the royal French houses to the "Pornacracy" of the medieval church, we have seen sin rear its ugly head over and over again. I think we can all agree, we have all seen enough sin to understand the difference between a good piece of cake and a lecherous sexual appetite.

But, the question is not how we look at sin, but how God looks at it. When God sees sin, it is an absolute. It is not eating a good piece of cake, but it is getting drunk. It is not "hooking up;" it is fornication. God has moral absolutes. He has standards that He expects us to adhere to. He has defined right and wrong for us without any misgivings. Here's a few:

• unrighteousness (This is not being perfect)
  
• evil
  
• greed
• envy
• murder
• quarrels
• deceit
• gossips
• slanderers
• God-haters
• arrogant
• proud
• boastful
• inventors of evil
• disobedient to parents
• untrustworthy
• unloving (For more SEE Romans 1:29-31 HCSB)

And I'm just naming a few. God knows exactly what sin is and what it is not. He is perfect and cannot sin. The boudaries for life are well-defined. And when it comes down to it, our whining will ring hollow that we didn't really know what God expected, nor will the excuse, "no one's perfect" stand God's scrutiny. God expects perfection. He cannot allow sin in His presence.

We are even told what we already knew:

Although they know full well God's just sentence-that those who practice such things deserve to die-they not only do them, but even applaud others who practice them. (Romans 1:32 HCSB)

So it begs the question, is there hope for me? With sin, there is no hope. But, suppose for a moment that there was a way for to God forgive sin, your sin. Wouldn't you like to know?

You can know. God wants you to.

Pastor Trey Rhodes

 

Core Work

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I remember one of the first times I ever tried to sit up after my past unpleasantness, known medically as a dissected aorta. It had been about 10 days after the event. I had begun to breath on my own. I was a few days out of ICU. I had begun to talk. But, I had not sat up. I thought I was lying down because I was recuperating. I had no idea that I was lying down because I couldn't do anything else. The nurse told me that she was going to help me sit up (like I needed help, I thought sarcastically). So, she and my wife got their arms under me, sat me up, and propped me at the edge of my bed. For a moment, I was doing fine...but only because they had balanced me. Within a few seconds, I had slumped back onto the bed and flopped onto my pillow. "What in the world?" I thought. So, they tried again, I must have lost my balance. I slumped and flopped again. This time I looked at the nurse and asked what was happening. For the first time in my life I heard, and I mean really heard the term, "core strength." As non-responsive as my nerves still were, I had none. The worst part...I didn't even know it!

It took me nearly a year to get my core strength back to a near normal level. It was grueling, hard work, but it was necessary so that I could start to function normally again. Believe it or not, during rehab, when I stood up in a harness for long periods of time, I became nauseated and almost blacked out on more than one occasion. It was because of my weak core.

I experience so many believers who are strong in their spiritual core. They had to work to get that way. They studied, served, learned, prayed, and invested themselves in the lives of others. They grew stronger and stronger as they invested time and energy into their spiritual inner core. Now, they are able to sit, stand, and walk spiritually. They have done everything to stand, and are able to "stand firm, then" (Ephesians 6:13-14).

I also meet at least as many Christians who are spiritually weak . The saddest part is, they don't even know it. Most of them think, as I did, I can do it if I want. Here's great encouragement though, they don't have to be.

That is why we are calling believers to inner core strength training this summer. This tends to be the time of year that we can get spiritually lazy. That is why you need to be with us every Sunday as we study the book of Romans together. The book of Romans is the core of who we are as believers. Without an understanding of the truths in this incredible book, we are destined to be weak and have no strength in the place we need it most, our spiritual core.

Won't you join us this week? Everyone who would like one gets a notebook with the book of Romans already in it. We have also designed the notes to fit in the notebook. in addition, there will be a place marker that has the Romans Road, the highlights of each chapter of Romans, and other tools to help you in your study of not only Romans, but any book of the Bible.

This is a no miss series. Romans: the Core of Your Spirituality. Begins this Sunday.

Let's start working on that core strength.

Pastor Trey Rhodes