Mark 1:10 NIV Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
Mark 1:11 NIV And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Matthew 17:5 NIV 5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
“You are my son”—ACCEPTANCE
“Whom I love”—AFFECTION
“I am well pleased”—AFFIRMATION
“Everyone has 3 fundamental needs, according to science: to feel safe, to feel like we belong and to feel like we matter.” Inc. Magazine
Our greatest needs are fulfilled PARTIALLY by people but PERFECTLY in God.
“The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for.”—Mother Theresa
John 15:20 NLT 20 Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you.
We overcome man’s REJECTION by embracing God’s
ACCEPTANCE.
1. My acceptance by God came at a PRICE.
Colossians 1:21-22 NLT 21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
The price God paid for our ACCEPTANCE was the SACRIFICE of Jesus.
The price we pay for our acceptance is the SURRENDER of our WILL.
2 Peter 3:9 NLT 9 The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
2. My acceptance by God came with PERKS.
FORGIVENESS
Romans 8:1 NLT 1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. Hebrews 10:35 NLT 35 So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord. Remember the great reward it brings you!
FREEDOM
John 8:36 NLT 36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.
FAMILY
Psalms 68:6 NLT 6 God places the lonely in families; he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy.But he makes the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
1 Peter 2:10 NLT 10 “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people.Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.”
3. My acceptance by God came with a PURPOSE.
Romans 15:7 NLT 7 Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.
People are not the PROBLEM.
People are the PURPOSE.
Thank you for joining us online this weekend!
