“Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).

There’s a story among church circles that in the 1890’s there was a small Baptist church in Mayfield County, Kentucky.

The church had two deacons who were constantly arguing and bickering over some issue or another. One of them put up a small wooden peg on the back wall so the pastor could hang up his hat. When the other deacon discovered the peg, he was outraged.

“How dare you put a peg in the church wall without first consulting me!”

The people in the church took sides and the congregation eventually split.

Today, the residents of Mayfield County still refer to the two churches as Peg Baptist Church and the Anti-Peg Baptist Church.

While this may be a silly and sad story, it speaks to the tragedy of what happens when churches forget the reason and the purpose for why she exists – Jesus Christ.

It is way too easy to get distracted by secondary and tirtiary issues like politics, gun control, masks, vaccines, and a host of other issues for which Christians who love Jesus can have differing opinions.

Should the church split and get occupied in secondary and tirtiary issues while ignoring the call to proclaim Jesus as Lord and Savior to a world who does not know him, what a crying shame that would be.

It’s all about Jesus. The Little Church and Lakewoodgrace exists to Make Disciples of Jesus Christ and Grow Faithful Disciples of Jesus Christ who share Christ’s love with all people.

It’s all about Jesus.

That’s the main thing.

Little Church and Lakewoodgrace, keep the main thing the main thing.

“The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt” (Exodus 12:13).

Today’s verse comes from the story of God rescuing the Israelites from Egypt. God commanded Israel to prepare the Passover by slaughtering a lamb and putting its blood on the doorframes of the houses of Israel. Then the LORD would pass over the homes marked by the blood of the lamb but kill the first born of those whose homes were not covered by the blood of the lamb.

Notice, the only requirement for salvation from death was the blood of the lamb. God did not check to see if those inside the house were worthy of salvation. The only thing that mattered was the presence of the blood of the sacrificial lamb. Those who were saved that night included murderers, liars, cheaters, adulterers, idolaters, sinners of all kinds and flavors!

The reason why God did not check the worthiness of those inside the house is because no one is worthy.

Salvation is not about the worthiness of the sinner.

Salvation is all about the presence of the blood of the sacrificial lamb.

When it comes to judgment, God will not be checking for our worthiness. If that were the criterion none of us would be saved. The only thing that will matter at the time of judgment is whether we are covered by the blood of the Lamb.

Friends, God loves you. If Jesus is your Lord and Savior, there is nothing in this world that will separate you from God’s love.

If you have not yet received Jesus as your Lord and Savior, what are you waiting for?!?! Receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. Confess that you are a sinner in need of a Savior and commit to following him.

If you’ve said that prayer, please let me know. The Little Church and Lakewoodgrace would love to walk with you in the journey of faith.

God loves you. Have a great day!

“The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20).

Crush Satan under your feet…

Man!!! That sounds so awesome!!! I want that. I want to see that. I would love to see Satan crushed.

Look at who’s feet God will crush Satan – under your feet. What you need to know is that the “you” in “your feet” is written in the plural.

• You, individually do not have the power or the ability to crush Satan
• You, on your own, are one who gets crushed by Satan
• But something amazing happens when you individuals come together under the authority of Christ. It is this you – all who come under the authority of Christ – who becomes the primary tool by which God crushes Satan in this world.

Who is this collective You All? This is none other than the Church of Jesus Christ. We are told that Christ is the head of the Church, and that we are his body. It is the Church of Jesus Christ, the body of Christ of which he is the head, that God uses to crush Satan.

The Church on its own does not have power to crush anything, let alone Satan. It is only the Church that is collectively under the headship and the Lordship of Jesus Christ that is the instrument and tool which God uses to crush Satan.

Isn’t interesting that the text tells us that it is the God of peace who will crush Satan under you all’s feet. God’s peace doesn’t mean the absence of crushing. In fact, in order for God’s peace to be genuinely peace, God’s peace must crush all that destroys peace.

You want to be in the business of crushing Satan? You have to be a part of God’s Church who is under the Lordship and the headship of Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us that Jesus is the head, and that we are the body of Christ. It is this collective “we” God uses to crush Satan.

You ready to do some crushing? Get under the Lordship and Headship of Jesus and be a part of Christ’s Church.