Habakkuk 2: 1-4; Galatians 3: 10-14

Habakkuk proclaimed the truth: He who through faith is righteous shall live. Paul showed us how God did it. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us...that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Those few words have shaped believers from that day to this. We cannot earn the favor of God by good works, or just being a nice person. The great discovery we make about Christianity - God did it all. He paid it all, through His Son. Only Christ makes us GOOD ENOUGH TO BE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD! Christianity 101- The just shall live by faith!

Protestant Reformers taught many things. They did not always agree on difficult issues. Luther, Calvin, Knox, Wesley shaped believers by their writing about God’s Word. Some other men like von Zinzendorf and Roger Williams brought still further insights of to live for Christ. From these people came our Lutherans, Presbyterians and Methodists; our Moravians and Baptists. But they, all agreed The just shall live by faith! As we enter into the annual meeting of our congregation, it is good to remember we got here by faith!

Part I: He wants us to be honest about how we see us, without God. We try to make ourselves good in our own eyes. We cannot do it if we worship with organs playing Bach any more than with drums and guitars. We cannot earn the favor of God by building houses in Mexico, nor giving food boxes to hungry and desperate people at Christmas. And just being nice does not impress God. Recall: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rm 3)

Part II: He wants us to be honest about how He sees us: Jesus died for sinners. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Rm 5) We have missed the mark, when we tried for perfection. We have turned away from God and have done our own things. Yet, our Lord gave His Son for us! Not everyone is convicted by this truth.

Two people can hear that story - One turns away and laughs, the other falls down and worships. Two people hear that story - One says, "I’ll try to believe," but one day quits; the other moves into intimate love with God the Father through Jesus Christ! How can this be? Both hear the same story. God offers the same faith to believe. One rejects the faith needed to believe - the other welcomes the faith of God to believe and welcomes the beautiful Savior at the same time! Truly this is a glorious mystery!

For those of us who see our need for Christ and welcome Him, we have the best news of our lives! He died for ALL - AND FOR ME! We welcome Him into our lives. He makes us righteous in God’s sight. He gives us His purity when we believe: If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For man believes with his heart and so is justified, and he confesses with his lips and so is saved. (Rm 10) Only He can do that!

Part III: He wants us To know Christ - and to make Him known! ..present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. (Rm 12) To know Him comes through worship and study. I hope you have worshiped Him this morning!

To know Christ - and to make Him known! We make Him known, as we give our money to provide for the lost, the lonely, the hurting. We give our talents to build up our church and community where we live - we help promote higher moral and ethical living for all. Our God-given faith moves us outward from our homes to the world. We point to heaven for others to consider. We make mistakes, we rejoice we have our Lord Jesus Christ who forgives us, erases the mistakes, and forgets them!

Christianity 101. It is good to be refreshed in the faith that God has given us. The Just Shall Live by Faith. His faith for life and for love! A life worth living!

We are about ready to start our annual meeting. You will hear and read stories of the mighty power of God to change lives. We educated and fellowshiped. We celebrated our victories - we challenged ourselves to do more! You will see accurate accounting of our finances received and spent. Money was raised and invested for Christ. We were far short of our goals, but we stretched in our faith...the faith that God gave us! We can be blessed that many members and friends of this church stepped up and served Him here!

Last year we began to explore future building needs for more effective ministry. This year we must pray for God’s will to be revealed to us! "How will we do it?" "We can’t even meet our budget now." "Who will come?" "You can try, but don’t change anything. I like it just the way it is." O yes, I have heard questions, doubts and don’ts. I can only tell you how we will do anything - BY FAITH IN GOD WHO GIVES US HIS FAITH TO BELIEVE IN CHRIST AND TO FOLLOW HIM. We will know soon enough what He wants us to do. Back to Christianity 101. I want to get the annual meeting right.

Let’s thank God that we trusted Him for 2001. It was a rough year in the world. But He kept us in His hands. By His faith, let’s see where He leads us, and get into step with Him. Next year, if He allows us to be here once more, we can say together,

HOW GREAT THOU ART!