THE HEART OF THE GOSPEL (6 OF 6)
by Bob Ingle
Scripture: Romans 3:21-31
This content is part of a series.
The Heart of the Gospel (6 of 6)
Series: Romans Volume 2
Bob Ingle
Romans 3:21-31
Take your Bibles and turn to Romans 3. My father gave me some good advice when I entered the pastoral ministry. He said, ''Bob, you better learn from the mistakes of others because you won't live long enough to make them all yourself.'' I think I took that more as a challenge because I've made just about all of them. For example:
1. I did a wedding and forgot to prepare the Lord's Supper. Long story short, I had to use Dr. Pepper as a substitute for the grape juice. What a shock to the bride and groom!
2. Unknowingly baptized a woman with a wig. Did you know wigs float? I didn't know whether to hand it to her or put it back on her head. I chose wrong. It was awkward!
3. In our first year of ministry, Jana and I decided to take all the kids and students of the church out for some fun. We took all seven or eight of them for ice cream. We dropped everyone off at their houses and went home. The following Sunday a mom stopped me and said: 'Thank you, our kids had a great time. But next time be sure to wait until they get into the house before you drive off.' Apparently, we dropped them off in the dark, and no one home. This was before the days of cell phones, and the kids were scared to death. My career almost ended before it really began. Those parents entrusted to me what was most precious to them, but I was negligent and irresponsible.
We're gonna make mistakes, that is life. But the way we show we're trying and that we care is that we learn from our mistakes and don't repeat them. God has left us here to get His greatest gift, His Son, to the people He created in His own image. That's why we're still here. That's why we don't go straight to heaven after we're saved. God puts people in our lives: Kids, neighbors, friends, co-workers. And our privilege and mission is to do everything we possibly can to get them to Jesus.
Yet, how often do we find ourselves being ...
Series: Romans Volume 2
Bob Ingle
Romans 3:21-31
Take your Bibles and turn to Romans 3. My father gave me some good advice when I entered the pastoral ministry. He said, ''Bob, you better learn from the mistakes of others because you won't live long enough to make them all yourself.'' I think I took that more as a challenge because I've made just about all of them. For example:
1. I did a wedding and forgot to prepare the Lord's Supper. Long story short, I had to use Dr. Pepper as a substitute for the grape juice. What a shock to the bride and groom!
2. Unknowingly baptized a woman with a wig. Did you know wigs float? I didn't know whether to hand it to her or put it back on her head. I chose wrong. It was awkward!
3. In our first year of ministry, Jana and I decided to take all the kids and students of the church out for some fun. We took all seven or eight of them for ice cream. We dropped everyone off at their houses and went home. The following Sunday a mom stopped me and said: 'Thank you, our kids had a great time. But next time be sure to wait until they get into the house before you drive off.' Apparently, we dropped them off in the dark, and no one home. This was before the days of cell phones, and the kids were scared to death. My career almost ended before it really began. Those parents entrusted to me what was most precious to them, but I was negligent and irresponsible.
We're gonna make mistakes, that is life. But the way we show we're trying and that we care is that we learn from our mistakes and don't repeat them. God has left us here to get His greatest gift, His Son, to the people He created in His own image. That's why we're still here. That's why we don't go straight to heaven after we're saved. God puts people in our lives: Kids, neighbors, friends, co-workers. And our privilege and mission is to do everything we possibly can to get them to Jesus.
Yet, how often do we find ourselves being ...
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