Sunday, April 27, 2014

Enemies, this changes everything

     1.      I'm so grateful that the gospel does not end on Good Friday.
     1.      I'm overwhelmingly thankful that its not finished on Easter Sunday.
2.      Its not even finished a week after Easter when doubting Thomas sees the Lord and believes.
3.      Its not finished at the Ascension, when Jesus ascends to the right hand of the Father as King of kings and Lord of lords.
1.      No, the gospel message we believe about Christ being crucified, raised from the dead, and now seated at the right hand of the Father praying strong prayers for us is inextricably tied to Pentecost, the moment when Jesus sends the Holy Spirit into the hearts of His people.
4.      Just a sinner saved by grace is only part of the gospel.
1.      Its true that in Christ, God has wiped the slate clean and has forgiven us our sins.
2.      But lets make sure we dont leave out the flip side that not only does He forgive our sins, but He also regenerates us through the power of His Spirit, giving us a new and higher spiritual nature.
1.      God is restoring our relationship to Him.
2.      He is living within us.
3.      Constant restoration as if we were a historic building, automobile, or document.
4.      Making careful adjustments, design tweaks, and strength modifications.
5.      An eternal, continuation of restoration and then a preservation of what He has done in us.
5.      I've had people look me in the eye and tell me that they do not sin.
1.      Where it's then at that moment I have to look them back in the eye and speak truthfully to them when I say, "yes you do."
6.      Many say, "We are all just sinners saved by grace."
7.      A lot of people use this saying, "well I'm just a sinner saved by grace" so they can continue in their sin.
1.      I know my heart.
2.      I know my own wickedness!
3.      It's true that were saved by grace.
4.      Not by works. Salvation is of the Lord.
5.      We cant do a thing to earn it.
1.      Its the word just' that gets to me.
2.      If I'm just a sinner saved by grace, how can I be a saint indwelled by the very Spirit of God?
Ephesians 2:1-10 NLT "[1] Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. [2] You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil-the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. [3] All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God's anger, just like everyone else. [4] But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, [5] that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's grace that you have been saved!) [6] For He raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. [7] So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of His grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all He has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. [8] God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. [9] Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. [10] For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago."

8.      Vs. 8 God justifies the believing man, not for the worthiness of his belief, but for the worthiness of Him in whom he believes.
9.      Vs. 10 God decided in advance our paths, marked out for each in our purposes beforehand, the particular good works, the time and way which He sees best for us to perform them.

John 15:16 NLT [16] "You didn't choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name."

2 Timothy 2:21 NLT [21] "If you keep yourself pure, you will be a special utensil for honorable use. Your life will be clean, and you will be ready for the Master to use you for every good work."

2.      That we should walk in them (good works) not "be saved" by them.
1.      Works do not justify, but the justified person works unto good works "for good works."
1.      For the greater cause of Christ, for the greater mission of the gospel, for the declaration of freedom from sin, it's turmoil, and destruction upon all mankind.
2.      We deliver good works for the greater good.

Matthew 5:16 KJV [16] "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

2.      We live out the good works for missional purpose, purifying purpose, worship purposes.
1.      That the lost will worship our God, so those without Christ will praise our God, so those bound by the enemy will meet our loving, kind, compassionate, Savior.

Galatians 5:22-26 NLT [22] "But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! [24] Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. [25] Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit's leading in every part of our lives. [26] Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another."
3.      Vs. 22 We receive then produce justification through the Spirit, through the word, through worship, through prayer, through service to others, through fasting, through giving, through faith, and through Jesus Christ.
1.      Constantly becoming alive, coming out of our sin filled nature into the nature of the Spirit.
2.      Becoming active participators of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
4.      Vs. 25 Follow the Spirits leading in every..part..of..our..lives.
5.      Vs. 26 Become conceited. Excessively proud of oneself, vain. Excessively high opinion of one's appearance, abilities, or worth.
1.      Spirituality and physically.
2.      My spiritual appearance to others, or my spiritual appearance unto God. My physical appearance to others, or unto God.
1.      These are hidden things in the heart to live out before our God.
6.      Vs. 26 Provoke one another. Stimulating or inciting someone to do or feel something especially by arousing anger in them.
1.      I'll push their buttons so hard they will have to change.
1.      I'll say everything about change, about hell, point out all their bad and sinful qualities then they will immediately, efficiently, abruptly be forced to change.
2.      News flash...never works!
2.      I've noticed the Holy Spirit is such a gentleman, He provokes me to change to be better by His love, by His goodness, by His favor, by His relationship to me, and by His blessing more than I have ever seen Him by pouring on the guilt trip.
3.      He will speak so strong but so loving, so powerful yet so respectful that I will run full speed ahead into the change.
4.      Into His mission, His purpose, His guidance though I was at first reluctant.
5.      He is my ever present help in time of trouble, He is the Strength, the Source, the Power, the Provision, the Forgiveness I needed and the Love that laid His life down for me.
1.      I WAS a sinner saved by grace but now a disciple, now a follower, now a model of that grace, filled with His Spirit.
3.      Ephesians 2:8-9 So we know that Faith does not save us, but rather Grace.
1.      We know that Faith is the conduit in which we are saved. 
1.      It is as if you were standing on top of a 10 story building that is on Fire.
2.      There are firemen below with a net ready to catch you.
3.      The step off of the building is faith, but the net is what saves you, which is grace. 
1.      The question that arises is are we still sinners?
4.      The term sinner was used before grace transformed them. 
1.      That means that the term "sinner" is past tense, and should be substituted with the term "righteous" after the transformation of justification. 
1.      The term justification is a legal term that simply means: "No Guilt Found."
1.      We have been found not guilty of our sins, as Jesus took them upon Himself over 2000 years ago. 
2.      It's as if God is saying, "If you accept my Son as you on the cross, then I will accept my Son as dying for you on the cross." 
3.      We have to surrender and sacrifice our flesh and independence in order to accept the free gift of grace.
2.      This is not to say that we do not still sin, but we are no longer sinners. 
1.      WOW...That means that we do not posses or claim that stinking rotten flesh any longer, but rather we have been transformed into Children of the Most High God.
3.      We no longer choose to walk after the destructive desires of the flesh but after the life giving guidance and leading of the Spirit man.

Romans 8:5-8 NLT "[5] Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. [6] So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. [7] For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will. [8] That's why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God."

4.      Through grace we take on the Royal lineage and birthright of Christ.
1.      He wants to clothe you with garments of white, but He will not put that over a sin filled heart. 

2 Corinthians 5:17-21 NLT [17] This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! [18] And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to Himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him. [19] For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. [20] So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, "Come back to God!" [21] For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ."

James 4:17 NLT [17] "Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it."
2.      Knowledge without practice represents us in great and bold sin.
1.      Nothing more injures the soul than wasted impressions.
1.      Feelings exhaust themselves and evaporate, if not embodied in practice.
1.      Good intentions are not Godly intentions.
2.      We have a very real enemy who's goal, mission, and desire has nothing to do with you or I succeeding.
1.      This changes everything.

Illustrate here: jaguar pouncing on a caiman crocodile.
3.      You think you're good to go, you're in the grace zone, you're bad to the bone, you got Jesus on your side, you're invincible, and you think nothing of the enemy slipping up behind you to pounce.
1.      But before you know it he's crept up on you and it's only a matter of moments that he's dragging you across the river to devour you.
4.      Ever notice he sneaks up on you?
1.      That's cause he's a thief, a liar, a coward, refusing to fight you face to face.
2.      Mano e Mano-which in its Spanish origin means hand to hand referring to combat.
5.      He'll show up to taunt you about your past, your insecurities, your sin, your doubt, your thoughts, your upbringing, your lack, and your faith.
6.      He constantly says, "Go ahead question the grace, question the forgiveness, question heaven."
1.      His goal to get you distracted, get you reasoning, get you justifying your sin instead of hating it.
2.      He is a criminal, he's a self proclaimed vigilante, a ruthless murderer, preying on our marriages, preying on our children, preying on our unity, preying on us for one reason and one reason only, to bring total destruction.
1.      Total loss and devastation.
7.      You've got the pounce mentality then you've got the safety mentality.
1.      I grew up around all of this and it'll never attack me.
2.      Sin won't get me.
8.      Say what you will, wild animals are dangerous.
1.      They are unable to comprehend how to behave and interact with humans because they were born to fend for themselves, it is in their natural instinct to be dangerous.
1.      It's sins natural instinct to destroy.
1.      This changes everything.

John 10:9-13 NLT [9] "Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. [10] The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. [11] "I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. [12] A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don't belong to him and he isn't their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. [13] The hired hand runs away because he's working only for the money and doesn't really care about the sheep."

5.      Vs. 12 There is power in unity.
1.      When we are attacked we must band together.
2.      Don't scatter and become a lonely islander.
3.      Stand in unity.
1.      God's mission is far too important to be left to missionaries alone, mission is the responsibility of all Christian Believers. 
2.      We have an undone assignment.
3.      We have a generation who desperately needs the modeling of Christianity in truth lived out before them.
4.      We must walk in grace, walk in mercy, walk in His Spirit, walk in His forgiveness, and offer that forgiveness to others.
1.      It WILL be difficult.
2.      It WILL take time.
3.      It WILL require sacrifice.

4.      It WILL be worth it.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

This changes everything-An Easter sermon



We are so honored that you've chosen to worship God with us, celebrating the greatest event in the history of the world, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We came to celebrate that the tomb is empty, the stone has been rolled away, and Christ, our Lord, is risen.  And that fact changes everything.

Jesus taught us the value of counting the cost first, because He knew we would have obstacles to overcome. For Jesus the cost included going to the cross. Long before that day, Christ had settled in His heart that death on the cross was a price He was willing to pay.

John 11:25 NLT "[25] Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying."

1.      What is a resurrection?"
1.      Just to be very clear, a resurrection is when something dies and then comes back to life.
1.      When Jesus said this, a lot of people don't understand that he actually said it in a story about another guy who died, but was resurrected.
2.      His name was Lazarus. 
2.      I want to tell you that story, and how the resurrection of Jesus brings what's dead back to life.

John 11:1 NLT [1] "A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha."

3.      We find out he wasn't just sick but he was so sick he was going to die. 

John 11:3 NLT "[3] So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, "Lord, your dear friend is very sick."

4.      This is bad news in the middle of a good life.
1.      If I can pause a moment and acknowledge, although there are a lot of people that are celebrating a lot of great things in this season of your life, there are a lot of people that are hurting right now, that have experienced that very direct bad news:  "The one you love is sick."
2.      Someone that you're close to has cancer or a terminal illness.
3.      Maybe some of you have heard the news we're terminating your job.
4.      Or your dream marriage turned into a nightmare, or a close friendship may not work out.
5.      Or the principal calls to talk to you about your teenager and it's not to tell you that he/she made the honor roll.
1.      You know what I'm saying? 
5.      Now, in the middle of this, Jesus says something that's amazing. 

John 11:4 NLT [4] But when Jesus heard about it he said, "Lazarus's sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this."

6.      This very thing that you would never ever want to happen, God is going to bring honor to Himself through the worst news that you could ever imagine.
1.      Let me give you a quick summary of verses 5 through 14;basically, everybody believes Jesus is going to come to help, but what He does is, nothing.
1.      For two days, He doesn't do anything.
2.      They're freaking out and He's hanging out.
1.      Two days later, He says to His disciples, "Hey, let's go back to Judea. They say, "No, if you go there, everybody's going to try kill you," which would be true.
2.      But He says, "Lazarus is dead and we need to go raise him from the dead."
1.      So, Thomas says to the rest of the disciples and watch him, he's going sarcastic. 
2.      He says, "Let us also go that we may die with Him."
1.      In other words, he's doubting.
7.      Some of you can relate to Thomas; he was dead in his doubts. Right?
1.      All through scripture, he was known as doubting Thomas. 
2.      I'm curious, on this Easter weekend, how many of you would be honest enough to say that you've had spiritual doubts at some point in your lives?
1.      Okay, thank you for your honesty.  Those of you with your hands down, you can just sit there polish your halo while I talk to the real folks for a second. 
1.      Because, everybody I know, at some point, prayed some prayer, believed God could, thought He would, ventured He should, He didn't and boom, they're bombarded with doubts.
1.      Why..didn't..God..do..this?
2.      Perhaps, you grew up with a real simple faith in God.
1.      You went to college and some professor said, "This stuff didn't really happen and boom, all of a sudden you're like, "Is he right, is God real, is my faith fantasy?" 
2.      Maybe like many you believed in God strong, something really bad happened to somebody that you really loved, and you thought, "Well, if God is good, why did He let that happen?"
1.      "If He's all powerful, why didn't He stop it?" 
1.      Suddenly, you're Thomas and there's  something on the inside that's a little bit dead in your beliefs.
2.      Or maybe, some of you are more like Mary.
1.      You're not dead in your doubts, you're dead in your discouragement. 
2.      You just don't see anything good happening, and you just cannot seem to catch a break.
3.      Mary was very very discouraged; we see this in verse 20.  "When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Jesus."  But what did Mary do?  She just stayed in the house.
1.      She's like "Why bother? I don't even need to go out there; I mean, he's already dead. There's nothing I can do about this anyway."
1.      And that may be where some of you are right now.
1.      You think, I can't change anything.
2.      I'm always going to feel alone, depressed.
3.      I'm always going to be stuck in this dead-end job. 
4.      I'm never going to have the marriage that I thought I would have.
5.      Discouraged.
3.      You're not going to show it; it's Easter.
1.      You put on your good clothes, you come to church.
2.      You're smiling on the outside but on the inside, you're really, really discouraged.
3.      Martha though was dead in the delay;God took too long.
1.      Jesus should have come back earlier and he didn't.
John 11:17 NLT "[17] When Jesus arrived at Bethany, He was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days."

2.      In the culture when Martha was living, there was a commonly held belief that a spirit would stick around for three days after someone died. 
1.      This isn't a biblical belief; nor a Christian belief. 
2.      It was just kind of a folklore that if someone died, their spirit would be like kind of close just in case they came back, and their spirit could get back into the body.
1.      Well, at four days, the spirit left.
3.      So, in her mind, Lazarus wasn't mostly dead, he was all the way dead. 
4.      He was so dead he stinks she said. 

John 11:21 NLT "[21] Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died."

3.      Why didn't you respond when you could have done something about it?
1.      You can relate.
2.      You feel dead in your delay.
3.      You're waiting on some answered prayer, some result.
1.      I know a lot of married couples, they're praying for a baby, and they can't seem to conceive.
1.      All their friends, just look at each other and they get pregnant with triplets.
1.      You know?
2.      They're praying and praying, believing for a child and can't seem to have it."
2.      Some of you, you're praying for a loved one to experience the goodness of God.
1.      And the harder you pray, the farther away they get.
3.      I know people that are praying, actually believing for a healing.
1.      We serve a God that says all things are possible, yet you pray, you employ your faith but God's just not doing it.
2.      And you feel dead in the delay.
4.      If that's you today, I hope that this speaks to you, and you'll never ever forget that "God's delays are not God's denials."
1.      Just because God hasn't done something yet doesn't mean that God is not still in control, He has a plan.
1.      Lazarus dies, Thomas freaks out, Mary's depressed, Martha is mad.

John 11:22 NLT "[22] But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask."

4.      Though we're dead in our delay, dead in our our discouragement, dead in our doubts that "even now, God will give you whatever you ask."
1.      Some of you need an "even now" moment with God.
1.      Even now, when you are discouraged, frustrated, the presence of God can come in and ignite your faith, this changes everything.
2.      Even now, you feel all alone, like there's no one there, the presence of the Holy Spirit can give you a peace that surpasses all understanding.
3.      Even now, God can reach into your jacked up family bring healing, harmony, forgiveness and restoration.
4.      Even now, when your heart may be cold, calloused toward the things of God, in a moment, God can speak to your heart and change you with His presence.
5.      Even now, when something is dead, the resurrection power of Christ can bring it back to life.

John 11:25, 26 NLT "[25] Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. [26] Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?"

2.      He didn't say, "I'm able to resurrect," but "I am the resurrection."
1.      Do you believe this?
2.      "The resurrection is not an event. It is a person."
3.      It's not just what He does, it's who He is.
4.      Dead things don't stay dead when The Resurrection walks into the room.
5.      "Roll the stone aside." Jesus called out in a loud voice. 
1.      Why a loud voice?
2.      I have no idea. 
3.      Maybe it's because dead people don't hear well. I don't know.
4.      But he calls out in a loud voice. "Lazarus, come out."
5.      And the dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen and a cloth around his face.
6.      Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
1.      Jesus is dead in the tomb; there's a stone blocking it.
2.      Lazarus is dead in a tomb; there's a stone blocking it.
3.      When Jesus goes to Lazarus, he tells the disciples, "Roll the stone away." 
4.      When Jesus is in the tomb, the women walk up in the morning like, "ah, oh. Who's going to roll the stone away?"
5.      Lazarus needs help removing the grave clothes.
6.      Jesus left His grave clothes lying precisely as His body had laid in them.
1.      He just miraculously, supernaturally moved out of them.
2.      We let our doubt, our discouragement, our delay completely disable our great and mighty God.
1.      And Jesus will absolutely, completely, and utterly move right out of those parameters.
7.      Jesus called out to Lazarus.
8.      God's mission, purpose, and mankind called out to Jesus and He responded.
1.      Some of you, feel dead on the inside.
9.      You've lost faith, you've lost hope, you're dead in the delay, you're discouraged, you've got doubts.
1.      You feel trapped in a tomb, you feel like you don't have the strength to roll the stone away.
2.      I want you to know that Christ has rolled the stone away and this changes everything.
3.      The stone was not rolled back so Jesus could get out but so others could get in to see that Jesus was gone.
4.      The same voice that called Lazarus to come out is beckoning you to "come out."
1.      Your sins can be forgiven, not because you're good but because He's good.
2.      You can be set free, not because you're strong but because He's strong. 
3.      You can feel His presence not because you deserve it, but because He is that good.
6.      The resurrection is not what He does; it's who He is.
1.      Why does it matter? 
2.      Because God, in His love and mercy, did something for us we were incapable of doing for ourselves.
3.      He became one of us to rescue us.
7.      God in the flesh, born of a virgin.
1.      Why does the whole virgin thing matter?
2.      Because Jesus didn't inherit the sin nature from an earthly father but inherited the divine nature from His Heavenly Father.
3.      Therefore, He could be the perfect sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins on the cross when He brutally suffered at the hands of the creation, and He looked up to heaven and said, "Father, I did what you sent me to do.  It is finished. Into your hands I commit my spirit."  And the earth went dark and shook, and everyone who had hoped maybe He was the Messiah fell into despair and darkness.
4.      They didn't realize it was only Friday but Sunday was coming.
1.      Some of you right now, I'm telling you, you're stuck on what you thought would, could, should have happened but with one touch from God, events can turn.
1.      And I'm not here saying that as a Christian everything's perfect, everybody's healed, your breath never stinks, your hair never falls out, perfect physique, and you win the lottery.
2.      No, what I'm telling you is that God is always glorified because He is that good.
3.      We are dead in our sins.
4.      Though we could never earn it or deserve it, our sins can be forgiven and you can be made brand new because of Christ's sacrifice.
5.      The tomb is empty;Christ is risen and this changes everything. 
5.      The same voice that called loudly to Lazarus out of the grave calls us out of our sins saying there's forgiveness, grace, healing. 
1.      It doesn't matter what you've done.
2.      It doesn't matter how big your doubts are, how bad you've been, how alone you feel, how much you've messed up.
3.      When you come to Him, He loves you, He forgives you, and He makes you brand new.
1.      He lives.
2.      Hope lives.