Sun. Mar. 18, 2012 (Kevin Hiebert)

Words are fascinating; they are the drivers of thoughts and they can mean different things to different people. Sometimes using alternate word helps clarify the meaning of the original words. Last Sunday Kevin Hiebert noted that the Greek word for "belief" appeared 240 times in the Bible. Using the Amplified Bible, Kevin helped us see the word "belief' as: to adhere to, to rely on, to cling to, to depend on, to trust. In the desert, after leaving Egypt, the unhappy Israelites "spoke against God and Moses" and grumbled about the food - manna (miserable food). This resulted in punishment and death of many people by poisonous snakes. Following God's direction, Moses made a bronze serpent, put it on pole, and all who looked at it did not die from the serpent's bites. This imagery is repeated in John 3, leading to the popular "for God so loved the world" verses. The Ephesians passage points out that we are saved by grace (unmerited favour, mercy) and that we are to work out (to cultivate and complete) our salvation. Good works are our response to the forgiveness that is freely given. (HN)

Listen to the sermon audio MP3 recording from Sunday, March 18th, 2012 using your browser's preferred media player.