Today we are going to look at our new series titled “Unwrapped.” We are just a few weeks away from Christmas, and I know everyone loves a great present to unwrap. However, these presents are temporary no matter how well they are made. Let’s dive into something that is extremely valuable and eternal!

Wherever you are on your personal journey, whether you are a non-believer, new believer or veteran in the faith, there is a gift that once unwrapped only needs receiving. This gift is called justification. Sounds important doesn’t it? Well, it is and you will see why. I think we can all agree that just because we accept Jesus, it does not mean that we instantly understand all that there is to know about Him.

Look at the thief on the cross who was one of two criminals who were crucified along with Jesus. He was very aware of his crimes and knew he deserved to die. However, he saw Jesus suffering on the cross and knew that He was innocent and that this man and His teachings should be loved and followed. He didn’t have time to get saved, attend church for years or even be baptized. That being said, he cried out for Jesus to allow him to follow Him wherever He was going. Through scripture we know that Jesus told him that he would join Jesus in Paradise.

The other thief on the other side of Jesus mocked Him and criticized Him for not calling on angles to deliver them. What was the main difference between these two criminals? A repentant heart! That is all it took for Jesus to show mercy. After all, the entire reason Jesus was on that cross was for sinners.

There is certainly not enough time or space here to totally unpack justification, but we will look at some of Paul’s writings on the matter. Ephesians 2:8 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.” Praise God forevermore for the grace that has been made available to us.

Romans 4:2 says, “If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God.” God made it so that we are justified by Him, not anything we can do. It’s human nature to try and boast about something, but not grace, that can’t be earned or accomplished on our own. Grace is an amazing free gift from God our Father. However, God does require us to make a move towards Him by repenting. In this way we don’t earn it, but we accept it.

Romans 8:33 says, “Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies.” I don’t know about you, but that verse makes me want to shout a bit! This tiny verse says so much! We see the reality in the fact that as we have mentioned before, God chooses each of us! He wants us all and He provided a way for that to be possible when we turn from our wicked ways and accept the grace and forgiveness provided by the cross! It also speaks to the fact that no matter who your accusers are on this earth, God has the final say because only he justifies us.

It can be confusing sometimes when we read scripture that says that it’s not by our works that we are saved, yet read other verses that talk about faith without works is dead. A simple illustration to help with this is with the sun. You feel the heat and see the light coming from the sun. It’s the same with faith. We receive the free gift of salvation from God and then it’s out of that relationship that we perform works FOR God.

One more scripture for today found in II Corinthians 5:19 says, “that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.” Once more we see a loving Father that made a way for His creations to come back to Him. When He looks at us, He literally sees righteous children instead of sinners. This is the case for all that receives Him.

We should all take a moment and give praise for what God has done for us, in us and through us. He knows that we will still undoubtedly sin, but He has made a way for our forgiveness and we are justified before Him. Let’s also remember this when dealing with difficult people in our lives as well. Not only are we justified, but your brothers and sisters in Christ are as well.

Discover the ultimate answer to life’s deepest questions in the finale of our ‘Clear View of Heaven’ series, where we reveal that Jesus is the key to every fear, need, and situation. From Old Testament prophecies to New Testament teachings, and looking forward to eternity, we explore how Jesus’ presence weaves through every aspect of our spiritual journey. As we uncover how Jesus embodies the way, the truth, and the life, we invite viewers to see life through the lens of His love and teachings. This isn’t just another sermon; it’s a transformative experience, drawing us closer to the essence of our faith and the promise of eternal life with Christ. Let us align our hearts and minds with the ultimate source of all answers – Jesus Himself.

Revelation Frisco is a Spirit-filled, diverse, non-denominational church family located in Frisco, TX. Led by Pastor Ben Sanders, we envision a church that is vibrantly alive with true worship of Jesus Christ. Visit us online at http://rev.church.

Step into a deeper understanding of Communion – also called The Eucharist – in this message from the ‘Clear View of Heaven’ series. From the manna and water in the wilderness to Jesus’ declaration as the bread of life, we will explore how these Old Testament miracles symbolize Jesus’ work, leading us to understanding the role of the Lord’s Supper in uniting and sustaining us spiritually. Whether you’re seeking to deepen your faith or understand the essence of this sacred practice, join us in discovering how Communion connects us to Jesus’ sacrifice and anticipates His return, strengthening us for our spiritual journey.

One very common conversation concerning salvation and your walk with God involves faith versus works. Are we simply saved by grace or are we saved by faith? We’re going to look at the fact that it is both according to Ephesians 2:8-9. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast.” It’s a partnership if you will because you have the faith to accept Him through the grace of God.

Another very important point we need to grasp is that faith and obedience are two sides of the same coin. Obedience is a byproduct of faith in Christ. We learned a few weeks back about repentance and that means not only asking forgiveness, but also allowing God to change you. All of us sin, but God made a way for us to repent and move away from sin.

Did you ever stop and think about the fact that none of us would be saved unless God looked down at you and said, “I want you to be saved!” He has done that for us all according to II Peter 3:9 which says, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” What exciting news that is! God doesn’t close His eyes and blindly point to who He wants! He wants us all!!

If you remember Abraham in the Old Testament, he was asked by God to move away from his homeland. He was told to take his entire family and all of his possessions and to go. Imagine how terrifying it would be? He, however, obeyed and that’s because God gave him the grace to have the faith that God would fulfill His promises to him. James 2:23 states, “and the scripture was fulfilled which saith, And Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness; and he was called the friend of God.” Picture another coin that has grace on one side and the spirit on the other. In the Bible, God actually calls the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Grace.

Now, we will switch gears and talk about a story in the Old Testament in Genesis chapter 11. The story of the Tower of Babel is all about the people coming together to create a massive and tall tower. God didn’t like this because He wanted the Israelites to disperse all around the world and create nations for Him. When He saw what these people could do anything by working together, He knew that nothing could stop them. He caused all the languages to change so that everyone had to join groups of people that spoke their own language. So here we see that language was used to separate.

Over in Exodus 19 we have the story of Moses on Mount Sinai and the people who gathered to hear what God had spoken to Moses. This is when God gave Moses the Law and the plans for building the tabernacle. The scriptures say that as the people gathered around the base of the mountain there was smoke from fire and thunder. Thunder here means voices. Imagine standing at the foot of this mountain encompassed in smoke, thunderous voices and the sound of a trumpet. I don’t know about you, but it would have my full attention!

We’re about to bring all of this together, but first lets jump ahead to Acts 2:2-4, “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” Sounds familiar right? This sounds like the Tower of Babel.

So first God used language to separate people, but here He takes language and brings all the world together. God sends down fire in the form of the Holy Spirit and God has a big rushing wind. God goes from writing His laws on stone tablets to writing His laws in the hearts of men.

Just as in the day of Pentecost, with the disciples, when we receive the Holy Spirit it causes us to do the work of the Lord. We began to do things that He is given us the strength and wisdom to do. The Holy Spirit can fill our hearts with joy and hope for an eternity with God.

If this is some thing that you have never done, all you have to do is pray, repent of your sins and for living your own way. Invite Jesus into your heart and ask for the Holy Spirit to guide you. You can begin to experience a touch of Heaven on earth and a vision of what’s to come.

We continue our series called “A Clear View of Heaven” in order to help us see what lies ahead for believers in Christ. We want to again see that there are things in our life now that the Bible spoke about and that there are things we live today that point to what is coming. It’s important to know what lies ahead in order to live our lives in such a way that we receive God’s promises for His children.

We will look again at the story in Exodus that describes just that…the Exodus of the Israelites from the land of Egypt. After the very last plague which was the death of the firstborn children, Pharaoh was furious! Remember, God provided protection for the Israelites as long as they put the blood of a lamb on their doorposts. The death Angel passed over them and their children were safe, but all the firstborn Egyptians were killed. Pharaoh told Moses to take his people and go.

The Israelites had been instructed to be ready to go and they were. However, Pharaoh quickly realized he had just freed ALL of his slaves and that they no longer had workers. Pharaoh gathered a small army and chased after them. Moses and his people were surrounded by mountains on each side, the angel of God in the form of a cloud in the front and the Egyptian soldiers from behind. God performed a miracle and split the sea so they walked on dry land, but released the sea in time to kill the soldiers.

In this story, the cloud that was in front was the manifest spirit of God. How powerful would that have been?! In the story the cloud moved from in front of them, to over them to behind them. Essentially, the Israelites went through the cloud before going through the sea. The sea represented their freedom because everything they once were had been washed away. The slave owners were dead and they were no longer runaway slaves. Their identity went from that of slaves to an entire nation.

Now we move to the Old Testament and the story of Nicodemus. He was a Pharisee which meant he was a very religious man who was quite proud of his understanding of the Mosaic laws. He witnessed regular people getting baptized and miracles and could not understand. He spoke with Jesus about it and asked Him to explain these things. In John 3:5 “Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.” Here we see that not only is trusting and accepting Jesus crucial, water baptism is as well.

When we repent and turn our back on our old ways, it leads us to the waters of baptism. Baptism does absolutely nothing if you have not repented and given your life to Jesus. There is nothing magical about the water, but there is certainly something supernatural about it! It represents the remission of sin or the forgiveness of sin.

In another section of scripture in Acts 2:37-38 we see Peter on the day of Pentecost preaching to the Jews. He explained that this Jesus that they crucified was in fact the Messiah and that He indeed died, but was resurrected and ascended into Heaven. “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”

Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” This was a powerful moment because this was the start of the church! It says that 3000 people accepted his message and were baptized that day.

The other amazing thing about baptism is that you have a change in family identity because you take on the identity of Jesus. What a powerful combination…accepting Jesus and being forgiven of our sins and then baptism into the family of God.

When we accept Jesus and decide to live for Him, the natural progression should be to show the world that we belong to Him through baptism in water. Please take some time to study these examples from the Word of God. If you haven’t been water baptized talk to your pastor or find a church that can help you take the next step in your spiritual journey of obedience to the Lord.

Have you ever wondered about Heaven? Have you lost someone you love and wonder what it’s like for them in Heaven, if they were a believer? What we need is a more clear image of Heaven.

When looking at the Bible, there are two testaments, the Old and the New. The Old Testament gives us clues into the future and these are called types and shadows. It gives little bits of insight into a Savior coming to earth. The New Testament deals with that Savior Jesus coming to earth as a man and dying on the cross for our sins.

The Old Testament gives prophetic imagery about what is to come and it gets more clear the more we read it and the closer we get to it. In the New Testament we see the fulfillment of many prophecies in the birth, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. However, there are so many prophecies yet to be fulfilled.

Many of these prophecies have been somewhat hard to understand or even imagine. The Bible speaks to this issue in 1st Corinthians 13:12 when it says, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” Simply put, there are things coming that we do not know. We know that there are two testaments in the Bible, but what if we consider a third? This is the final or eternal testament where everything is finally revealed. In this regard the New Testament is setting up the eternal testament!

Heaven is pure, and it’s perfect. The struggles we have on earth, the things that cause us to sin now will be dead and gone in Heaven. We will arrive there in perfection just as God created us before the fall of man when Adam and Eve sinned.

Back in the Old Testament we have the story of Noah and the ark. God saw the wickedness of the people and decided to start over with humanity. He instructed Noah to spend the next 120 years to build the ark. God allotted 120 years in order to give more people time to get right with God and get on the boat. Unfortunately, Noah, his wife, three sons and three daughter in laws were the only ones to join. This ark was so huge that the door was too massive to close from inside. God had to close it Himself.

We can take the imagery from that story and jump to the New Testament in Luke 3:16-17. Here John the Baptist is teaching and telling people that they need to repent. “John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” This scripture shows that there will come a time when Jesus returns and he will separate His children from those that are not.

Here are two examples of men of God who tried to warn others about the coming judgment of God. Just as in those days, there are plenty of folks who do not heed the warnings from those who speak about what is sure to come. There are many who spend their days only fulfilling and gratifying their flesh, who will unfortunately not take the warning’s seriously.

It is so very important to remember that when we hear about God’s judgment and His wrath, it is because He is righteous and hates wickedness. He has provided a way to spend eternity with Him and to escape an eternity in hell. We however, must avail ourselves to His provision in the form of forgiveness bought by the blood of Jesus.

Living on this earth, it is impossible to be sinless! We as Christians sin, but thank you Jesus we know how to repent and turn away from sin. We also need to draw closer to the Lord and form an intimacy with the Father like never before. This intimacy allows us to desire more of Him and less of the world. When you walk closely with Him, the things that grieve Him will grieve us and the things He loves, we will too.

Heaven is perfect and more amazing than our finite minds can imagine. Hell, is not a place anyone wants to end up, mainly because it’s an eternal separation from our Creator. Let us repent today of sin and dedicate our lives to reaching as many that are lost as possible.

The word “destiny” is one of those words that evokes many different emotions. It can really cause some joyful and hopeful feelings in some and some anxiety in others. One thing that is unequivocally true, however is that we all have a God-given destiny.

In Numbers 27, we read a story about five daughters whose father had died and left no sons. Generally, Scripture from those days would only list men in the genealogy, because that was the custom of these times. However, these five women had no father and no brothers yet they were certainly included in the promise of a land flowing with milk and honey. The fact that they were females did not negate them from the promise. No one was left out, and these women had to petition Moses to get their inheritance. It’s amazing that this is listed because this is actually a pretty big deal.

I know that many of us have wrestled with whether we were going to fulfill our destiny. We have gone through times where we feel like it’s the goal that we will never reach, and that it is simply unattainable. We see from the story in the Bible that we are all able to obtain our destiny if we believe in Jesus and put our trust and our faith in Him. Psalm 37 tells us that the steps of a righteous person are ordered by the Lord. This is further proof that we don’t need to spend our life stressing about our destiny. We do have to line our will up with the Word and God’s will for us to be IN God’s will.

It’s important to know that when we are tempted to compare our lives with others, our destiny to others, we must not be jealous or envious. When your life feels like a desert, void of miracles and blessings and you see others with seemingly all they need, it’s human nature to feel envious. Instead of “Why not me?” You can say, “I’m next, it’s on its way!” This will help keep your heart right and your faith firmly planted on the bedrock of God’s promises.

Another story comes from Numbers 32:4 and it involves the twelve tribes crossing the Jordan. Reuben and Gad were two of Jacob’s twelve sons that did not want to cross. They approached Moses and basically petitioned him about their tribes not going with the other ten. They liked the land on the safe side because it was great for life-stock and they felt they had done enough fighting. Moses was not happy that they would abandon their people in the other ten tribes and make them fight without them. They just wanted their inheritance NOW. Moses told them that if they stayed the others would be discouraged and not want to go and this would not be pleasing to God. In the end they agreed to go with the others and help them fight for their land and then they received the land they wanted. We see from this story that they needed to help others achieve their destiny and so do we!! None of us can achieve it alone!

One last story is in Joshua chapter 4 and it takes place after everyone crossed the Jordan river. The priests were holding the Ark of the Covenant in the Jordan River as everyone passed on dry ground. God told Joshua to instruct twelve men representing the twelve tribes to go to where the priests were and to each pick up a stone. The twelve men carried the twelve stones to their camp and built a memorial to commemorate all that God had done for them. This would be a memorial for the adults to teach the children of God’s promises to their people. The point here is that we are to be a living memorial or a living testament to all the God has done. This is our destiny…our testimony that will live on in the hearts of others.

Let’s remember today that we will not miss out on our destiny as long as we are following the Lord’s leading. Let’s rest in the fact that we all need others in order to fulfill our destiny. Finally, let’s focus on our destiny being our testimony, one of God’s saving grace, His eternal love and our promise of an eternity with Him. Let’s tell as many as we can so that we can take as many with us as possible!

When we align with God’s will, we can experience the sweetness of life’s blessings, and cultivate the fruit of the Spirit. Whether you’re seeking a deeper understanding or a refreshing reminder, this sermon illuminates the importance of our spiritual roots and the richness of God’s love.

Today we continue our series called “Promised Land.” We have already learned that God’s promises have a command attached to them, so His commands have promises and His promises have commands. We learned that our faith walk can be a lot like a roller coaster with its many ups and downs, but God is there in them all!

Today, we are going to talk about something that affects each and every believer in some form. Let’s talk about strongholds and giants. Again, we look at Numbers 13: 25-28. The spies were sent to scope out the land and they came back with amazing news. They said it was beautiful and a land flowing with milk and honey!! There were men actually carrying giant grapes! The people were ecstatic and ready to go. “Oh yeah, there is one other thing.” They said. “There are men as tall as giants, we were like grasshoppers compared to them.” The people were terrified as we all would be! Joshua and Caleb were filled with faith and knew that God would go with them and deliver these men into their hands. The others however didn’t have time to think about God being with them, they were too busy focusing on the size and scope of the strongholds and the giants.

In the beginning, they had a physical problem with the size of the giants, but then it became a mental struggle because fear and doubt set in. Finally, it became a spiritual issue because they doubted and disobeyed God.

We deal with this same progression in our own lives. God tells us to do something that in the natural seems terrifying. We grapple with it mentally or physically and then it becomes a spiritual snare.

Now, the Israelites were promised fruitfulness, sweetness and prosperity. In the same way, we are walking in God’s promises and He promises us fruitfulness as well in the form of the fruits of the Spirit. These are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

These things are amazing, but the moment you accept Christ you step into war with satan, but have no fear, you are not alone. God gives us what we need to fight satan and it’s in this arena you need to understand what a stronghold is. A stronghold is a place of consistent mental and emotional resistance. When you have a situation that arises that is contrary to the Word of God and you know what to do, but you feel resistance to do it…that’s a stronghold. You could walk up on a group at work telling filthy jokes and immediately the Holy Spirit nudges you to walk away. However, you feel this resistance to do so because you may look silly or self-righteous…this could be a stronghold. You know you are a Christian and you would never talk that way at church, but you also feel a little resentment that you can’t just take part, what’s the big deal? Stronghold!

There are some reasons why strongholds exist in our hearts, and we will look at three. First of all repeated, willful sin will build a stronghold. These are addictions. Time after time, brick after brick you will erect a stronghold that appears to be unbreakable. However, with repentance, prayer, accountability and right choices you can replace each brick of sin with bricks of righteousness.

Another way they form is through trauma. You may have experienced great trauma as a child or in relationships etc. and now there is almost a knee jerk reaction that you have to certain things. These reactions are because of a stronghold on your life due to trauma. God can ask you to do something and out of self-preservation you default to fear and tune God out. This isn’t how we are meant to live.

The last way we will discuss today is with pride. This is a big one and it can be a giant stronghold in our lives. The pastor could be preaching and in your mind you could be assigning the examples given to everyone around you, but yourself. Especially in marriage it can be so easy to hear something and say, “That’s right! My husband/wife does that!” While you do the exact same things. Pride causes us to feel that we are superior to others and that we have got it together. When God calls us to take council from someone and we feel an immediate grrrr because we have more experience or we are older etc., it’s a stronghold.

Please remember as you read this and find truth in these words, you are never alone. God has given us the tools necessary to tear these strongholds down and the biggest way is with the truth of His Word! For every stronghold including, addiction, trauma and pride, there are scriptures to combat them. You can Google scriptures on any topic and you will find your weapon!

We can live free from strongholds in our lives. It’s not always easy and it may not feel so fun, but we have a loving Father! He cares so deeply for you and the human condition, and He sent His Son so that we can walk forgiven and empowered by His Word.

It’s no mystery that life is a lot like a roller coaster, full of twists, turns and some steep drops as well. One minute we are on top of the world with everything just clicking for us. The next minute it feels like the floor has dropped out from underneath us. This is a universal truth. Sometimes we may be tempted to think it’s just us or our own families, but that is without a doubt untrue.

There has also been the misconception that Christians are immune to this fact because we have Jesus working on our behalf. This also could not be further from the truth. Having a relationship with the Creator doesn’t excuse us from hard times, it just allows us to lean on Him when we experience them.

Another word picture for us to understand the ups and downs of life is to equate them to mountain top and valley experiences. We love the mountain tops because we feel the joy of things going our way. Maybe you just got married, had a baby or received a promotion at work. Maybe it’s as small as being able to have a pain free day where your body works properly. Mountain top experiences don’t have to be massive, they can be simple things we have prayed for.

The valley experiences are the ones that we generally do not appreciate. Maybe your car broke down again, you get laid off from work unexpectedly or you’re going through a divorce. These are the times that can really test our faith walk with God.

Deuteronomy 11:11-12 says, “But the land you are crossing the Jordan to take possession of is a land of mountains and valleys that drinks rain from heaven. It is a land the Lord your God cares for; the eyes of the Lord your God are continually on it from the beginning of the year to its end.

Spiritual mountain tops might include things like accepting Christ into your heart, water baptism, a healing or maybe just a Sunday worship time. It’s important that we worship the Lord on these occasions and thank Him for all He has done. It’s also extremely important to remember these mountain top experiences when you are way down in the valley.

Having the ability to look over your shoulder and see where you were just on top of the mountain metaphorically, helps to increase your faith. It allows you to remember God’s goodness and to trust He will bring you out of the valley. Conversely, as you exit a spiritual valley and head back to the mountain top, it’s good to see where God’s hand was on your life.

Now, another very important fact about the valley is that it’s in this season that you cry out to the Lord. You cry out for His help and guidance. You also plant in the valley, you plant and toil so that faith will cause you to bear fruit. That fruit is what you will need for your next mountain. The stretching and toiling in the valley sustains you on the mountain tops.

King David in the Bible is a great example of one who lived through many peaks and valleys. He killed the Philistine giant as a boy. He was a valiant warrior and became king. However, he also committed murder and infidelity. He lost his firstborn son and had to deal with his children acting treacherously. Those are some awfully high mountains tops and some mighty low valleys. God was with Him through it all, and God used David in a mighty way not to mention he is in the lineage of Jesus Christ.

Remember today that whether you are standing on the top of a mountain in your life or if you are crawling through the lowest valley, God is there. Call out to the Lord in praise for the good and for strength and guidance through the bad. You are growing your faith and that is always a worthwhile endeavor.