Reverend Eric Hill, Antioch Baptist Church
Hello Centralia and the surrounding areas;
Antioch Baptist Church would like for you to know how much we appreciate and love you, for letting us help you with your spiritual needs.
As the pastor, let me say this, I have had the privilege now for three years and counting to serve you with all your spiritual needs. For that I am very grateful, so thank you, from deep down in my heart, with so much love. If I can, I would like for you to think about something and that something is God’s grace.
Pastor Eric Hill
But first before you can do that, you would have to ask yourselves a few questions.
What is God’s grace? What does it do? Here are a few things that I believe is essential for us to know and there are plenty more of them, but let us start with theses , God’s grace is about forgiveness, Romans 3:23-24 helps us with that, For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. The Word of God tells us that grace is a gift of God. Our mistakes, our sins, condemn us and separate us from God. But God doesn’t leave us to deal with the consequences of our sins. We know on the cross, Jesus Christ displayed his great love for us by taking on what we deserved. Just a reminder, the grace of God gives us what we need instead of what we deserve, and that is what we are in desperate need of. When you really think about it you will see what God’s grace does. It allows you to experience forgiveness and let you live in freedom from your sins. God’s grace is undeserved( but He gives it anyway) 2 Timothy 1:9- says Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace. Which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. The beauty of God’s grace can only be fully understood when we realize how fallen, broken, and undeserving we are. Simply put, we do not deserve grace. We deserve death, but again, God gives us what we need instead of what we deserve. We cannot do anything to earn it. The result of works will never earn God’s grace. Can I remind you Jesus didn’t go to the cross because we are worthy, but because He is good. We have done and can do nothing to earn God’s grace. Our own effort and good behavior will always fall short. The Bible makes that clear, the results of works on our own amounts to nothing. It’s by the grace of God alone that we are saved. It is God’s grace that brings us closer to our Father. John 14:6 says Jesus said unto him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me.” The forgiveness of sins allows this to happen. It doesn’t just save us from hell, it reunites us with our heavenly Father. Grace allows us to come back. Sin cast us away and it created a chasm that keeps us apart from God. Grace is the bridge that allows us to come back to the other side. It mends the wounds that sin caused. It forgives the mistakes that we made. Grace brings us back to the Father. As I close the beauty of all of this is grace is open to all. Titus 2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men. Everybody on this earth is loved by God and has the offer of grace extended to them. All they have to do is accept it. Let me say, the problem is not one person is deserving of what Christ Jesus did. Not one. We are all terribly broken and in need of grace. The question now, becomes will you accept His offer to you. Do you know Him as your personal Savior. Beloved I pray and hope that is the case for you. If not please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at Antioch. We would love to help you. God bless to all.
