Passage: Ezekiel 36-37 Speaker: Pastor Lukus Counterman Series: Open House
Speaker: Lukus Counterman - The reality of our sin sometimes embarrasses us. You know what that’s like. When our transgressions are unavoidably and undeniably placarded in front of us, we are shamed by them and there’s no way around it. We hang our heads in disgust knowing that we’re unworthy and undeserving. But then at other times it’s not that sin embarrasses us, it actually discourages and defeats us. The negative script rolls around in our minds saying things like “We did it again. We failed all over. The cycle of faithlessness happened like it always does.” In those moments, it seems like every self-effort turns out to be only a vain attempt. It seems like there’s no point in trying to accelerate when the gas tank is empty. Our conclusion is that we’re powerless, hopeless, and helpless. We can’t achieve what we really want. But in times of shame and hopelessness, what if there was someone who could save and deliver? What if there was someone who could transform us from profanity to purity, from rigor mortis to resurrection life? In Ezekiel 36-37 we are going to learn that when it comes to salvation, we don’t deserve it and we can’t achieve it, but it is provided for us by the grace of God. May the Lord help us lean wholly into his grace today.