WHAT NOW?
· There is more to the Church than just showing up on Sunday morning.
· Without Jesus, we are the living dead.
· We are God’s handiwork. We have a purpose.
· Our Church, all three campuses must be in Unity to make a difference in our communities.
Christians are to LIVE DIFFERENT. We are to live different so that we will be contagious to others.
We must LIVE IN the world but we must LIVE DIFFERENT. It is a decisive and continual action.
If we look the same as the world, we’re doing something wrong.
If we have anything in us that keeps us from being truly different; let us ask the Lord to reveal that even this morning. A prayer to pray for God to reveal His will to you is found in Psalm 139:23-24,
“Dear God search me O God, and know my heart; test me, and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Lord I desire to continue on the path of everlasting life. Please God speak to me. Help me Lord to live differently than those in the world. You are my God and I trust You with my life. In Jesus Name, Amen.”
The letter of Ephesians is a letter of encouragement to the church. Paul is writing to call them out of their old ways. The Christian answer to this condition is “reconciliation with God”.
Once we repent of our sin and ask Jesus to come live in our heart, we MUST turn in the opposite direction of sin. There is no neutral ground.
How are you representing Jesus? It is either “Good” or “Bad” there is no in-between.
The Evangelist, Billy Graham said “We should have a redemptive relationship with society, as Jesus did.” We are to be in the world, but not of it.
What are you putting into your mind everyday? As we listen to God, we will continue to change all the time to be more like Jesus.
Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world.” STOP. Quit giving in. LIVE DIFFERENT.
Be transformed by the renewal of your mind by putting good things in your mind. When you stop, you must fill the void with the right things.
· Jeremiah 15:16: When your words came, I ate them;
They were my joy and my heart’s delight,
For I bear your name,
Lord God Almighty.
· Psalm 119:9 – With your whole heart search for God. Stay in God’s word. Store up God’s word in your heart so we do not sin against God. This gives us a renewed mind.
Many believers are living in 2 worlds. Trying to honor God and also trying to live and please your friends. It will not work.
Have you ever had the desire to change and not been able to?
Galatians 5:16 “…Walk by the Sprit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
Daily choices matter. Day after day we must be consistent in choosing to Live Differently than those in the world.
Becoming a Christian requires turning from your sin to God. We call this repentance. But repentance is not a one-time event. It defines the lifestyle of a believer. God changes us radically at the moment of salvation by imparting a new life to us, but this is followed by a lifetime of changing into the image of Jesus Christ.
When we turn from sin and turn to God, we are forgiven in Christ’s eyes. He grants a full pardon just like the sin never happened. We are regenerated, ‘made new in Christ’, with a heart that is capable of faith, love and obedience.
When we ask Jesus to live in our heart, we are immediately adopted into the Family of God. Jesus forgives and He instantly gives you a pure heart. Forgiveness, regeneration, and adoption happen simultaneously in the experience of a new believer in Christ.
The Lord wants you, me, and every person who call their self a Christian to encourage each other to LIVE DIFFERENT than the world.
I must die to self and live for Christ.
Galatians 2:20 says, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Focus on you. Get to the place where you can walk with the Lord. Die to the old self and allow Christ to have full control of your life. Ask God to help you die to the old self.