Evening the Score (2/3)

Christmas: It's All Good

By Pastor Dan Williams, December 12, 2021

Main Idea || It’s good news because we’re not all that good.


We can’t stop holding others accountable to an external standard we sometimes ourselves.

  • A set of universal “oughts” to which we hold others accountable.

Luke 16:16 “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing their way into it.

We aren’t so .

Luke 5:1–3,8,10 (NLT)
One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God.

2 He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets.

3 Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon, its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.

8 When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me— I’m such a sinful man.”

  • “ I am such a sinful man.” – Peter

Luke 5:10 (NLT) “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!”

Good News:

  • A New Kingdom
  • A New Kind of King

Luke 5:11 (NLT) So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

Romans 3:23–24 (NLT) 23For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

24Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.

We all share something in :

  • We all fall short.
  • We’ve all been invited to embrace the same .

CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION

1. Growing up, when you heard the term “sin,” what came to mind?

2. Did Billy Graham’s response to his daughter mirror the way you were taught God views and responds to sinners?

3. When (if ever) did it first strike you that you needed a Savior?

4. What part(s) of this verse have come alive to you? Why?

24Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.