The passage of scripture that we've been focusing on during Advent is Ephesians chapter 2 verses 1 through 7.

And you he made alive when you were dead through the trespasses and sins in which you once walked,

following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air,

the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience.

Among these we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, following the desires of

body and mind, and so we were by nature children of wrath like the rest of mankind.

But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through

our trespasses made us alive together with Christ.

By grace you have been saved and raised us up with him and made us sit with him in the

heavenly places in Christ Jesus that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable

riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

In these last two weeks we have been trying to be obedient to verse 12 of this chapter that Tom just read from

Ephesians 212 says, remember, and that's the key word, remember that at that time

you were separated from Christ, alienated from the Commonwealth of Israel,

strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

And so what I've tried to do is to help you obey that command.

Remember that.

Don't ever forget from what you have been saved. Because if you forget these things, then you will not cherish Christ as a Savior.

If you don't cherish Him as a Savior,

you don't have him as a savior. You see these aren't just optional things we've

been talking about, the urgency of cherishing Christ.

You know the words of the apostle.

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