"What Can Jesus Do for Me That I Can't Do for Myself?"

Pastor Laura Guy

January 10, 2010

Here's an instant replay of what happened in worship:

We heard the traveler express confusion on her journey. She wanted to know why she needed Jesus. Aren't all paths to God basically the same? The attendant urged her to read John 3:16-17.
We thought about heaven. Most people say they believe in it, but there are different opinions about what it is and how one gets there. If heaven is where God is, then can a person get there by just being nice?
We remembered that God's nature is holiness - pure, blinding, brilliant holiness. It is so powerful, that a human being, even a hero of the faith like Moses, can't look upon it and live. So if we hope to be in heaven with God someday, being nice isn't going to cut it.
We realized that all of us, even good people, have imperfections, sins, guilt and regrets. We can't get rid of this junk in our soul. But God wants to have a relationship with us, wants us to be in His presence, to look upon His face. Since we can't remove our sins to become holy, God did it for us. Our sins were put upon Jesus and nailed to the cross with him. This is what Jesus does for us that we can't do for ourselves.
We learned that the word "atonement" was invented by William Tyndale to express what happened on the cross. It is literally "at-one-ment" - we are no longer separated from God but are at-one with Him, holy enough to be in His presence, because of what Jesus did for us.
We watched a clip from "The Gods Aren't Angry" by Rob Bell.
We prayed a prayer of thanksgiving that we don't have to live with our past mistakes because Jesus made a way for us to be free.
We celebrated communion at the table of love, reminding ourselves that there are MANY empty seats still at this table.