A Disciple Who Invests

Humans love to justify themselves. We are great at looking at people around us, noting their failures, and observing how much we are better. This tendency displays itself in particular when it comes to “bad” sins. We all know that Christians must never commit some sins. We must avoid sins like murder, adultery, or stealing because they can discredit us in public. So we justify ourselves by emphasizing our purity from such sins and how we contrast with others. But being righteous is much more than avoiding only the “big,” “bad” sins. Righteousness is about avoiding all sin. Our inability to justify ourselves comes from what some call respectable sins. We tend to excuse these sins, like pride, selfishness, and worldliness, because, well, no one’s perfect. But the point isn’t to try to be better. The point is that we aren’t better; we aren’t better than anyone. The problem with self-justification is that it drives away from God and Christ instead of toward them. Instead of seeing our helplessness, we convince ourselves that we’re better than we are. Then we ignore our profound need for Jesus. But Jesus is exceptional at helping us see how short we fall. He continues to point out our failure, so that we’ll see our need for Him and turn to Him. He reminds us again and again that God knows our hearts. So we must stop resting in our self-justification. We must turn to Jesus. He will make our righteousness genuine, because He’ll give us His righteousness. And that’s all we need! –Pastor Rory

Sunday at Liberty

9AM: Dealing with Absolutes–Titus 2:11-14

10AM: Pastor Nate–A Disciple Who Invests–Luke 16:1-18 (sermon notes)

3:30PM: Flagstone Service

6PM: Pastor Nate–The Faithful Steward–Genesis 39