SERMON NOTES:

Prayer Requests

DEVOTION

Y Pray for NEW BEGINNINGS! Y Pray for students as they return to school. Y Pray for Ken McCullen as he recovers from cataract surgery. Y Pray for Barbara Anne Keely as she recovers from a shattered arm due to a fall she had at home.

Salvation is a blessing that God shared throughout the Scriptures. One way to view the Bible is to see it as one story of salvation. From the beginning of Genesis to the end of Revelation God consistently delivered people. God gave a vision of salvation at the beginning and end of the Bible. The following six readings share different dimensions of salvation. Salvation is certainly not limited to the New Testament. It is the story of the entire Bible. This week we will read sections from each part of the Bible that entail salvation. Comments about the devotion can be Emailed to Pastor Paul at pastor@colpres.org. Monday, September 3 Read Genesis 1:26-31 We cant understand salvation unless we see the vision of salvation. The sixth day of the Creation story shares this vision. Humans who were made in the image of God were asked to develop (not dominate) the earth. Everything that God made was very good. Perfection practically exists. We know that humans fell away from God and prevented this vision of perfection from taking place. However though the implementation failed, the vision has not failed. This is the vision that God has for us. We are saved or delivered to something beautiful. This vision is one that can grab our own hearts. It can motivate our ministry and work to create a better world. As you pray today, talk to God about this vision. How has it grabbed your own heart? How often do

2
you think of this vision that God has for our world and for our lives? What does this vision do to you? Does it create a sense of excitement and anticipation, or is it boring? Talk to God about these questions. Tuesday, September 4 Read Exodus 3:7-11, 14:26-31 The foundational story of the Old Testament is Gods deliverance or saving of the Israelites. Notice that when God heard the cries of the people God shared that God would deliver them from the Egyptians. The Israelites would receive salvation and be brought to a land that was almost perfect. The second story is the one of God saving the Israelites from the Egyptians chariots and warriors. God did something that the Israelites could not do. This is an important dimension of salvation. God saves uswe do not save ourselves. Notice in verse 30 that the word saved was used. Do you have a situation that you need deliverance or salvation? Do you know of someone who might be backed against the wall just as the Israelites were backed against the wall in the second story. How deeply do you believe that God can save you or someone else from the situation? Pray about these things today. Wednesday, September 5 Read Isaiah 35:1-10 God gave the people of Israel a vision of salvation. When they received this reading the people were in exile. They had experienced terrible sufferingnot unlike the suffering the Israelites had experienced under Pharaoh. Look at the powerful words of verse 4 Here is your God. He will come with vengeance, with terrible recompense. He will come and save you.

3
This vision of what God shared is what saved the people. God was willing to deliver the people of Israel from exile. With the benefit of history, we can see that this took place. The people of Israel were not left in exile. God delivered or saved them. Give thanks to God during your prayer time today for this deliverance.

4
We have been saved by gracethis is a tenet of Protestant faith. God initiated salvation for uswe have done nothing to earn it and certainly dont deserve it. Because of this salvation we have eternal relationship with God. Look at verses 5-7. even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christby grace you have been savedand raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness towards us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:5-7 Without salvation we would be deadboth on earth and permanently when our bodies stopped working. God has delivered us from death so that we will live eternally. This is a basic message of faith, but one that we can never take for granted. As you pray today, give thanks for this salvation. Saturday, September 8 Read Revelation 22:1-5 This vision given in the last chapter of the Bible is a vision of eternity. Its more than heavenits the reality of salvation. Though this vision might seem far away from us today, it can come immediately through God. It is God who can accomplish this vision; God can deliver us from our world and create a new world. This vision is a book-end of the Scriptures. It complements the vision God shared on the sixth day of Creation. This vision takes no work from usit is truly a work of God. Prayer and praise is our only proper response.

Thursday, September 6 Read Luke 7:50, 8:36, 8:48, 17:19, 18:42 Salvation not only happens after we dieit can happen here on earth. Here are five beautiful stories of how someone was healed or saved by Jesus. The people were made well. Each of the verbs in these verses comes from the Greek word sozo. The words are translated as saved, healed, made well. They each share a dimension of salvation. Someone was delivered from a terrible situation on earththey were saved. Today we trust in modern medicine to save us. Medicine has done marvelous things for humanitylife expectancy has been expanded dramatically. It is not unusual for someone to live into triple digits. The source of this intelligence and equipment is ultimately God. God made humans and gave us the materials to make such equipment and medicine. Many people are delivered from a terrible situation. Let us clap our hands for God! Friday, September 7 Read Ephesians 2:1-10