salvation Archives - Page 8 of 10

A Tribute…

September 23, 2009 by Gilbert 2 Comments

In 16 years of being a follower of Christ and now almost 10 years in full-time ministry, I have been very blessed by God to be able to do some pretty cool stuff for Him. I have personally led hundreds of people into a relationship with Him and during my time with Purpose Driven Ministries, I trained over 10000 pastors how to more effectively reach their local communities. I share all this for a reason…

None of what I’ve been able to accomplish for Jesus would have happened if not for Marvin Bower. Marvin showed up on my front doorstep on July 27, 1993 along with Keith Skidmore and the two of them proceeded to share the good news of Jesus with me. Despite having grown up in a church, none of it had ever made sense to me until that moment. For the first time in my life I realized I needed to have my sins forgiven and that God didn’t just want an hour from me on Sunday’s but wanted me to surrender my entire life to Him.

Marvin passed away yesterday. I was just one of many that he led into a relationship with Christ. Marvin was not a pastor, he was just a lay person who understood that while other companies might pay him a wage so he could pay his bills, his real job…his full-time job…was to help bring people who are far from God into a relationship with Jesus. In all the years that I knew him, until his health declined, he’d spend at least one night per week going out into the community visiting people telling them the good news that Jesus died so our sins can be forgiven.

Little did he realize that hot summer night that not only was he helping to change my eternal destiny, but also the destinies of the hundreds of thousands of people that my ministry has now influenced. What a great lesson for us all! That what we do today is having a ripple effect that will go far beyond our lifetimes.

Marvin has run his race…his impact has literally been world-wide…he’s now heard from Jesus, “Well done my good and faithful servant”. But what about you? First, do you have a personal relationship with Jesus? And then if you do, what are you doing today that will make an eternal difference.

So fix your eyes not on what is seen but what is unseen. For what is seen is only temporary, what is unseen is eternal.
-Colossians 4:18

Inside Today’s Experiences

September 20, 2009 by Gilbert 1 Comment

Had a really good day.
Today was the 3 year anniversary since I first spoke at United.
A bunch of the United crowd threw me a surprise party last night which was really cool!
Hard to believe its been 3 years already.
That very first weekend we had 85 in attendance…now here we are 3 years later and not only do hundreds of people attend each week, but hundreds of people have come into a relationship with Jesus!
This morning I came in early and couldn’t get the network or 3 screens to work…I panicked…oh no what are we going to do.
Ummm…reach over and turn the power button on might be a start. :)
At the beginning of the band’s warm-up, our drummer was running late so I sat down to at least provide a beat…everyone laughed at me…so I saw Aaron had come in to observe practice so I asked him to drum.
He did the entire first song and wasn’t half bad…although when he was done I thought we might have to call the paramedics…he was wore out.
It’s amazing how much energy our drummers expend and they just keep going and going and going. Many thanks to our drummers over the years, you guys rock (literally).
Since Andrea was leading a bunch of songs today we also gave her the chance to do a lot of the speaking roles as well.
I thought she did a great job…I think God has big plans for her…it’ll be interesting to see what they are.
For the first time in a long while both myself and the team seemed to bring as much energy to the later Experience as we did the early one.
In fact, we posted the 2nd message online.
I’ve really enjoyed this series…hope you are as well!
As I mentioned in the message, I’m going to be offering a class again on how to study the bible on October 10th from 9am-12pm. If you’re interested, please let me know. gilbert@unitedworshipexperience.org
In the meantime, make sure you are in God’s Word everyday looking for principles, not promises.
Had out of town friends visiting in the early Experience and some family members in the 2nd. Always great to have the support of family and friends.
I dropped the hammer at 11:15 on the whole evangelism purpose…seriously God wants you inviting every week. People’s eternal destinies are at stake…what are you doing about it?
Time for a nap and then dinner with friends…have a great week…see you and your guests next week!

What Happens to People Who Never Hear About Jesus?

September 14, 2009 by Gilbert Leave a Comment

I talked with and then received an e-mail over the weekend from an attender of United who was wondering, “If only people who pray and ask Jesus for forgiveness make it to heaven, then what happens to people who have never heard about Him?” I e-mailed him back with my response and thought it might be helpful for others of you as well. So here’s what I wrote…

As we spoke about Jesus is the only way to heaven. The question then becomes…”Well then what about people who have never heard of Jesus”? That question can be answered in Romans chapters 1-3. In chapter 1 we read about how God reveals Himself to us through His creation. It’s hard not to look at nature, space, the changing of the seasons, the complexities of the human body, etc and not come to the conclusion that something greater than us created it all. We call this “The Light of Creation”.

In chapter 2 we read about how our own conscience convicts us of right and wrong. As I shared with you, “Even thieves in the deepest, darkest, jungles of Africa still steal under the cover of darkness”. Why? Because they know deep down, even if there are no commands or laws against it in their society that it is wrong. This we call “The Light of Conscience”.

In Romans 3 then we read about the good news that Jesus is that “higher power” and that He can and wants to forgive us of all the wrong our conscience has convicted us about. This we call “The Light of Christ”. Now everybody during every time has had the “Light of Creation” and the “Light of Conscience”.

Many throughout time have been able to hear of Jesus and His offer of forgiveness. For people like that (which includes you and I) we will be judged on “What decision did you make about Jesus in regards to how to handle your sin?” If you’ve truly prayed and asked for His forgiveness and leadership in your life, then you will be forgiven and are given the assurance of eternal life with Him in heaven. If however you decide that you are going to try to make it into heaven based on your own good works and deeds then you’ll spend all of eternity in hell because heaven is a perfect place and only perfect people are allowed to enter in.

Some though never get the chance to hear about Jesus. So does this mean that they will have to suffer in hell forever just simply because they never heard about Him? The answer is no. Does this mean then that people who never hear about Jesus automatically get a free pass to heaven then? The answer again would be no. While they may be ignorant about the claims of Christ, they are not innocent of sin by any stretch of the imagination. So then what happens to these people? Simple…they will be judged based on the amount of light in which they have received. Again we all have an innate sense that there is something out there greater than us (whether we know to call Him God/Jesus or not) and we all feel conviction about the wrongs which we’ve done (even if we don’t know the theological term, “sin”). So the question is, do they acknowledge that sin in their life and recognize that only that “higher power” has the power to forgive them and change them? So all people need forgiveness of sin, we just happen to know that Jesus was God in the flesh who made that possible for us. So you and I will be judged on all 3 “lights”, some will only be judged based on the first 2 “lights” because that’s all they had.

Inside Today’s Experiences

August 16, 2009 by Gilbert Leave a Comment

Another great day!
What a lot of fun this series has been and today was no exception.
From a behind the scenes perspective, we couldn’t have asked for a smoother day.
I really love the new song the team did today called, “Arms Open Wide”…a good mix of slow worshipful reflection and driving rock.
Brian is doing an awesome job with the stage sets and this particular one has made his lighting go to another level.
So cool to have Dustin Swartz as our guest guitarist for “Don’t Stop Believing”…only 14 years old…wow!
For those that missed the story, he played it as his audition song for Aaron just a matter of minutes after the creative team meeting in which we decided to use it as a part of this series.
There’s coincidence and then there is God…we definitely thought this was a God thing and so we used him.
Awesome job Dustin…keep using your gift to glorify God!
Even after the wild outfits the last few weeks, today’s made me feel incredibly self conscious.
Maybe because some people still dress like that today and I was embarrassed to be seen like that.
I had a lot of fun with today’s message…talking about video games and the Gospel…does it get any better?
Had 8 more first time professions of faith…that will never get old!
Can’t wait for the Next Steps ministry to start in September.
Speaking of new ministries…in case you missed it, last week we started the “You Matter” ministry and the first task was to provide a week’s worth of food for the Boys and Girls Club of Chambersburg.
Not only did we do that, but we far exceeded it. We gave…
- Enough drinks to last them through November…
- Enough food to last through the winter…
- Enough cash and gift cards to get them to next summer!
This week’s task is to fill backpacks for needy kids and already about a dozen have been filled and turned in…wow! Keep it up.
I met some great new people today and all of them just couldn’t get over how different United was than what they expected from a church.
If I haven’t mentioned it for awhile, let me remind you that I love getting to be your pastor. You guys rock!
I’m really excited about next week…not only will there be a 1990’s medley but I’ll be preaching based on the Beck’s song, Loser.
I’m really, really looking forward to this message…make sure you invite a lot of people.

Inside Today’s Experiences

August 9, 2009 by Gilbert Leave a Comment

Had a good day today!
Ok any day where 6 people come into a relationship with Christ qualifies as not just a good day, but a great day!
What a fun series as we look back at the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s.
Again the band did a fantastic job of putting a medley together.
That I got to help by rapping, Parent’s Just Don’t Understand was not only fun, but nerve-wracking.
I didn’t have in-ear monitors, so I had to go off the sound from the house,
but you guys were cheering so loud that I couldn’t hear the beat…got off a
few times, but all in all it was fun to participate.
I’m thinking Andrea was born to do covers of other bands…she again
killed her parts!
Had two new people on the team today and for the first time out, we
threw a lot of stuff at them and they came through…thanks Dan and
Cressa!
I again think that the medley wound people up and by the worship set
you guys were raring to go.
I loved that during the 9:45, there was one point where all our vocalists
dropped out and for about 1 minute it was nothing but the sound of your
voices…and LOUD!
I thought Brian did an awesome job with the song, Everybody Hurts. What a great intro into the message.
I know today’s message wasn’t all touchy-feely, but it was something we all need to be reminded of from time to time.
If Jesus brand was “love” and “compassion”, what makes us think ours should be anything different?
I’m really excited about the new You Matter ministry.
If you want to practically apply today’s message by getting involved helping the hurting in our community, You Matter is definitely the ministry for you to get involved with.
Big props to Scott McCurley for dressing in his best 1980’s costume…wow that was impressive. Don’t forget you can dress the part each week as well.
Next week we’ll again look at the 80’s, this time with the song, Don’t Stop Believing.
Almost hard to believe, but today marks the 1-year anniversary since we expanded to 2 Experiences.
What’s amazing is that one year ago we were blown away by the attendance. In fact we set a record that day.
Today even though we had higher attendance than 1 year ago, it felt like a let down because people are still in full vacation mode.
I’m excited about this series, but can’t wait for the next one when everyone is back and in inviting mode and we see dozens come to Christ each week, not just 1/2 dozen.
You say. “Gilbert can’t you just be content with what we’ve got”?
And the answer is a big fat NO. As long as there are people in our community that don’t yet know Jesus, our mission is not complete.
Join me in making a difference…you won’t regret it!
- Invite someone to church with you next week.
- Help “You Matter” to feed children in the Boys and Girls Club this week.
- Wear your “You Matter” wristband all week and use it to share the good news with others.
YOU MATTER and you can make a difference!