Do you know someone who has started a successful business? Well, for the most part, an entrepreneur doesn’t find success immediately. More often than not, there is failure involved, and the business needs to pivot and learn from its failure if it wants to succeed. Pastor Dan teaches you today that your faith is just like that successful business: you need to go through trials and tribulations in order to grow stronger as a follower of Jesus. But the Lord is on your side, and He will lead you through those trials.

Scripture teaches us that you cannot serve two masters. So if you aren’t serving God, then who are you serving? And more importantly, doesn’t that make you God’s enemy? Pastor Dan reminds you today that while your sin makes you God’s enemy, Jesus has made a way for you to find peace with Him. When you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, the influence of sin is expelled from your life. Without the influence of sin in your heart, you are free to follow God and become part of His family.

There’s nothing we can do to justify ourselves before God. We could donate millions of dollars to wonderful causes and spend every spare minute serving the poor, and still couldn’t bridge the gap between our broken souls and our perfect Creator. As Pastor Dan will remind us in today’s message, in our state of spiritual depravity, we have only one hope. Jesus Christ is that hope. He gave Himself as a perfect sacrifice to atone for our sin, and offers us righteousness through faith in Him.

Have you heard of the “name it and claim it” movement? While it’s loosely based off Scriptural truth, believers in this movement often misplace their faith. The focus is on our determination and on the actual phrases themselves, as if it’s a magical incantation. Oftentimes, the request is also self-promotion or gain, not God’s glory. As Pastor Dan will remind us in today’s message, faith is only effective if it’s placed in God, meaning that you believe He can accomplish something that aligns with His will.

Faith by itself. As Pastor Dan continues our study of the book of Romans in today’s message, we’ll be reminded of this fundamental truth. There’s nothing we can do, or add, or subtract from our lives, to be justified in God’s sight. It’s simply by faith. Our lives should look different from the rest of the world, as a result of placing our faith in God. We should be doing good works and avoiding sin – not to earn or keep our salvation, but out of gratitude and a desire to honor the One Who’s saved us.

We have some very meaningful sacraments, which is a fancy word for a spiritual ritual or practice in the Church. In some denominations or traditions, these sacraments are given a place akin to salvation itself. Some even attribute their salvation to those practices. For example, some believe that you aren’t really saved unless you get baptized. As Pastor Dan will clarify in today’s message, these practices do not save you. They are just an outward sign of what Christ has already done in your heart.

Many of us have had unknown charges on our bank accounts. You may go into a panic mode, trying to figure out if you actually spent that money, or if someone stole your card info. As Pastor Dan will illustrate in today’s message, imagine if it went the other way – you spent money, but the charges don’t show up on your account. What a blessing that would be! In a similar way, when you sin, it’s like a charge against your spiritual account – but Jesus makes it as though those charges never existed.

Some believers, and even entire denominations of the Church, believe that to be saved, you must live a righteous life. Once you’ve been saved by Jesus, your life should be free of sin, and any sin you commit requires confession and recommitment to God. As Pastor Dan will point out in today’s message, this way of thinking puts way too much on you. It expects something you’re incapable of. Your life is changed, but your righteousness is only in Christ, not because of your ability to follow the law.