Pastor Randy Hoskins

​Senior Pastor - First Congregational, Ashland, NE

 June 11, 2021
​A successful inventor/business man was once asked: "What is the key to your success?" He answered, "You know what has been said about every one of my products? Someone always comes up to me and says, 'I thought about that too. I should have got it patented.' Many people have good ideas, they just don't do anything with them. When I have an idea, I don't just think about it, I write it down, get a patent, and then find a way to bring it to market." I think this is the same concept Paul is speaking about in Romans 2:13. "For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous." Hearing Scripture and being saved are two different things. To be saved we must not only hear what Scripture says -- we must act upon it.  
One of the great dangers for Christians is to spend our time reading and studying the Bible, but then not doing what it says. Knowing Scripture doesn't mean we are saved anymore than reading a book about baseball makes a person a baseball player. So how do we become a baseball player? By playing baseball. It's pretty simple for us as Christians as well - reading and knowing Scripture is not enough, we must also be doers of the Word.
I've heard folks say that many people are lost because they have not heard about Jesus. I always want to correct this line of thinking, because there are many (most?) people, at least in this country, who have heard about Jesus yet have not been saved. Hearing doesn't equal saving. People are lost because they remain sinners and haven't accepted the saving grace which Jesus extends to them. John 3:36 says, "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them."
What have you read in Scripture today? Maybe the better question is this: What will you do today with what you have read?  
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Pastor Randy
402-450-4447
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PASTOR RANDY HOSKINS

After serving as part-time pastor, Pastor Randy was called to full-time ministry in February of 2020.
​He and Velvet now live in Ashland.