Richard Ellis Talks

Before creation, God knew that there would need to be a plan for salvation and He incorporated that plan in every aspect of His handiwork. Since Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, we are now offered the gift of salvation entirely free. We must lay aside our attempts at payment and simply receive this gift.

When God made man and woman and placed them in the garden, He gave them one command that they did not obey which resulted in the need for a sacrifice to cover their sin. Jesus came in the flesh, died and was raised back to life in order so that His sacrifice would cover all of our sin.

When we let Jesus in, He changes our hearts and our lives from the inside out. Summary: Jesus came to earth in a humble manner so that no one can say He was more privileged than them.  Many of us put up a “No Vacancy” sign on their heart and do not let Him in, but when we finally turn off the “No” we realize that Jesus can change our heart of stone to that of flesh and it can change our lives.

There are so many different elements of the Gospel story that would have to be ignored because of how much proves that Christ truly was the anointed Son of God who died to take away the sins of the world.  It is not bad to question things, but at some point we have to believe what the Bible says or else claim that the whole thing is a hoax.

Just as the Israelites wasted 20 years because they would not repent and follow the Lord and therefore heaped more consequence on themselves, we sometimes wait to repent and God brings more consequence to draw us back to Himself.  God’s deliverance always comes when we call on Him, and it is important that we remember His help.

The Bible is full of prophecies that Jesus fulfilled, statistically proving that He really is the Messiah. Instead of arguing the facts and choosing to not believe what is clearly written, we need to have faith in Scripture, believe and spread the Gospel message with others.

When God calls us to something, we need to not get hung up on the impossibility of it but rather trust Him to provide whatever is needed. At Christmas time, there are so many opportunities to tell others the Gospel, so may we embrace those moments with boldness, trusting God to give us the words and the courage when necessary.

It is easy, almost natural, to be owned by our stuff. Yet Jesus says that we are to care for the poor, which sometimes means we must sell something we have in order to do that. It may not be appealing, but as Christians we should ask God what He wants us to sell so that we may help someone in need who may potentially become a brother or sister in Christ.

God called Mary to bear His Son to be born into the world to save the world, and there is no way she could have followed through with this unless she had faith in God to do what He said and equip her with everything she would need. God calls us into situations where we have to rely on Him to grow our faith and show the amazing things only He can do through us.

Jesus came to earth with a purpose and a job to do that He accomplished. Now, since He lives in us if we believe, we have a job while on this earth to continue the work that He started to seek and save those who are lost.

Just as the Israelites in Exodus needed the blood of a spotless lamb to save themselves from physical death, we need the blood of God’s Lamb, Jesus, to save us from spiritual death. When we understand that there is nothing else that can save us but His blood, then we can share this news with others.

Just as God worked out the impossible to have the virgin Mary conceive and birth His own Son, God can do anything in and through us to accomplish His plan and purpose. When His Spirit lives inside of us, He will instruct us in things that may seem impossible but He fills us with the power to do it as we walk in obedience.

The Bible described the necessities for the Messiah to be a perfect Lamb sacrifice in order to completely fulfill the stipulations of our sin debt. Jesus had to be born of a virgin, grow up as a minor living in fully human form yet without sin, and only after all of that could He die as the spotless Lamb to take away our sin. He did all of this so that we may be truly saved.

Many times there are people who get saved by accepting salvation offered by Jesus through the cross, but they continue living their lives in their own power and trying to fix their own sin. God empowers us through His Spirit to overcome sin if we would just submit our lives to Him every day.

When God tells us something, whether directly or verified by others, we need to obey immediately no matter what it is He’s telling us to do. The only safe place to truly be is exactly where He has called us.

Family issues seem to often come up around the time of the holidays. Instead of growing more bitter towards one another, God calls us to love each other and to make things right. While we can’t control others, we can take responsibility for ourselves and do what we can to make peace.

Just as the shepherds and wisemen chose to worship Jesus when He was born on earth, we are given the opportunity to lay our lives down in worship to Him. Whether we choose to worship Him or not, in the end we won’t have a choice. It’s better that we choose now to worship Him so that we can spend eternity singing His praises.

God is so powerful that all He had to do was speak and the whole universe was created as vast and as detailed as it is. Within that creation, He ordained that a star would be near enough to the earth to proclaim the birth of His Son who was sent to save the world.

Every detail about Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection was fulfilling of every prophecy ever made about this Messiah. At some point, we have to come to a place of choosing to believe in Him or not because we will all face His throne one day and answer for the choice we make.

We didn’t get to be there when Jesus walked the earth, but we have God’s truth in Scripture to believe that He came. Another evidence of Jesus is the change that takes place when we believe in Him. We may not see Him face to face until we die or He comes back, but we can see His work in others and believe.