This morning I was blessed to attend Beacon Baptist with friends Larry and Julie who also attend with their friends Jeff and Karen.

Not only were we there for the service, but Sunday School as well. So, I will speak on what that was concerning as well as what the message was in regular service this morning.

Just one side note: my editor is still being weird, and now I can’t even get into my own blog without signing in multiple times. So if I can’t change my featured image as I usually do, I apologize in advance.

Sunday school was about how biblical truth has the power to change lives and how belief affects behavior. It’s message was taken from Romans ch. 12. which says:

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

But what does it mean to be a living sacrifice?

In part, it means to live a life of obedience to God. Not for approval or obligation. Our motivation should come from a sense of gratitude and love for Jesus, for through Him we are promised eternity.

For me, this message melded perfectly into the sermon, which was based on Matthew 3:1-10. It was titled Better Than We Deserve.

These verses explain how we should never feel entitled to our salvation. Just like Jesus resisted temptation, we should realize and acknowledge how blessed we are that we aren’t going to hell. Because that’s what we all deserve as sinners.

Yet Jesus sacrificed his life for us! So we would no longer have to sacrifice animals or live by the old covenant. We should never complain about anything. We should be grateful and thank Him every day for our many blessings. We should remember this any time we are tempted to think something about our lives isn’t “fair.”

We didn’t earn our gifts and talents, God made us and therefore we have them because of Him. Everything we have we owe to God.

We should use our gifts and talents to the glory of God. We should love with genuine love. Never should we think more highly of ourselves than we ought to because we are too indebted to be entitled! We deserve nothing, yet we have the grace of God anyway.

He loves us and forgives us our sins.

Glory to God!