How Do I Know?

How do I know that I am truly saved or “born again”? The Lord, working through the Apostle John, provided assurances to us that we could truly know that we know Christ as Savior. When I have that assurance in my life, it frees me to serve Christ and grow. If I don’t have the assurance, I spend my time focusing on whether I am worthy or even saved. Today’s message challenges us to consider the assurances that Christ has given us.

Preview of the Second Coming (Matthew 17:1-13

Often, people want to question the validity of the Lord.  They often say, “How do you know Jesus is real?” or “How do you know He is coming back?”  This was the question that had to be on the mind of the disciples.  After all that Jesus had said to them about going to Jerusalem and suffering and dying, they had to be wondering what was happening. The Lord now gives them a crash course in His glory and being God.  Do we see Him that way?  Our answer to that determines our eternal destiny.

Winning by Losing (Matthew 16:24-28)

Today’s passage offers a great paradox.  Everything about it goes against everything we have ever been taught in our American culture.  We have been encouraged to do our very best and win it all.  We are never happy with losers.  The teams we cheer for actually depress us when they don’t produce a winning season.  We seem to take it personally as a culture.  But Jesus tells us in today’s passage that we actually win by losing.  We give up everything to gain God’s best.  It is a struggle that every believer will face at one time or another.  It is really a great paradox.