Pastor Hal Gaudet continues the sermon series “Chosen Inspired” by speaking about spiritual debt and about how Jesus came to save people from spiritual poverty. He explains that many people, especially those who were not raised in a religious or Christian environment, believe that they are not in need of salvation because they tend to see themselves as not being so bad; they may even think that they are doing more good than bad and believe that this makes God okay with them.
People do not realize that they have a spiritual need that they cannot fix themselves which can only be fixed by Jesus through his sacrifice. Focusing on Luke 4, he highlights the crowd's reaction to Jesus and the proclamation of being their promised Messiah—reactions such as doubt, anger, and even a desire to kill Jesus. This resistance to accepting Jesus as the savior is further supported by other instances in the Bible, such as when Jesus claimed to be one with the Father, and the people attempted to stone him. The speaker acknowledges that even as believers, Christians can struggle to accept Jesus' help in various areas of their lives; a perfect example of this is James, one of the disciples, who felt inferior, confused, and hurt. We are encouraged to examine our own lives and see if we are struggling to accept help from Jesus in any area. He reminds us that Jesus came to bring everyone the good news, to free the captives, to help the blind see, and to uplift the oppressed.
He reminds us to refresh our trust in Jesus and to try not to handle everything on our own, and he emphasizes our need to accept Jesus’ help for making positive life changes. For more about the Holy Spirit's guidance in accepting Jesus' help and bringing healing to our lives, join Cornerstone Family Church of Saint Cloud, Florida, for their Youtube livestreams on Sundays.