2023 Wk 18: Easter
Made New: Easter Changed Everything • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Easter—Changed EVERYTHING.
I missed a tour this weekend that I would have enjoyed so I sent to Facebook to take my own tour.
Stonefell Chapel, Historic Henryetta Presbyterian Church, 1916
The Chapel began to crumble in 2014
Volunteers came along the side of Dianne and Todd Groff, to rescue and began the tedious restoration process of the old chapel 2015.
Stabilization was the first step for all the craftsmen and then restoration.
LIKEWISE, Mankind was going nowhere, crumbling in ritualistic sacrifices and never finding a relationship with their Creator— they were dead, in darkness, and death focused— THEN EASTER HAPPENED!!
Easter—Changed EVERYTHING...
SOME THINGS WE LEARNED THROUGH EASTER WERE:
1. If Jesus is ALIVE—then God can be trusted, because God keeps His Word.
And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life* because you have been made right with God.
2. Without DEATH there is NO RESURRECTION.
No sacrifice for sin
No sacrifice for forgiveness
Without Death--No New Hope of a New Life
NO WAY TO BE MADE NEW!
14 And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.
3. Jesus the Cornerstone is God’s Plan for You
God’s Plan is…
A Clean slate by Blood of Jesus
Alignment to the Cornerstone
Right position
Through forgiveness there is a change resulting in a relationship of righteousness.
By trusting God’s process, God’s plan is set in motion for you to access His heart .
4. Abba Father…Daddy, Daddy—I’m Adopted!
Adoption is becoming a family me:
fully Integrated into the family.
fully known by the Father, and
fully loved by the Father.
5. Humming in Perfect Pitch Tuned to Jesus
A unified Body comes by aligning ourselves to Jesus Christ.
Humming a perfect concert “A” (440hz) is becoming like Christ!
It changes our will to His Will
It changes our thinking to His Thinking
It changes our way to His Way
It changes our dysfunctional life to His Life of Unity making us all living after the True Standard in Life.
This is the only way that we can truly Love, Serve, Forgive, and show Kindness to this Broken World.
NOW WEEK THREE… Maturity Through Forgiveness: The Past is the Past
I As we receive the forgiveness offered to us in Christ. All of our past mistakes, sins, and missteps are removed.
Forgiveness Begins the Fixer-Upper Process
I love watching “This Old House”
Remove a wall/window/walkway, redesign it, rebuild it, and voila’ — the old house is a new house.
likewise, we are the same…
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
Our homemaker over begins with forgiveness
Jesus’ blood removes the old…
Mistakes, sin, and missteps
thus makes way for…
new behaviors
new values
new priorities
new life moving forward
if you are found in Christ you are Made New!
The Rescue Plan—Jesus
A rescue plan seems meaningless until you actually need it :
Airline flight instructions?
Rollercoaster suggestions/rules about hats, eyeglasses, cell phones and back issues.
A rescue plan for the 33 Chilean Miners trapped 2600 feet below ground in a gold and copper mine shaft for 69 days.
Their rescue capsule was one at a time.
Who wants to be last?
JESUS WAS OUR RESCUE CAPSULE!
13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom* and forgave our sins.
Jesus defeated sin and death
he opened the door to NEW life and TOTAL redemption.
Redemption (Greek) = “Payment of Ransom”
It released us from the slavery of sin
It squelched the power of darkness.
NOW WHAT DO WE DO!?
We follow Christ in Baptism
an outward sign of an inward work.
Going into the water 💦 is a form of taking up your cross a follow Jesus.
Take Up Your Cross
Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.
Following Christ is Costly
It costs us everything thus Crucify our…
Old sins
Old desires
Old attitudes
For us not to take up our cross, it will be Costly to those around us everything.
Hell is real and so is eternity!
Being a follower of Jesus is more than a bumper sticker or Christian jewelry.
Fix Your Eyes On Jesus
We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.* Because of the joy* awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
Watching car #3 at a Nascar race is easy as Dale Earnhardt goes left left left left and left again, but
watching your kids from the lawnchair— as the tide takes them down the beach— well, you better be watching closer.
Life’s current can pull us under quickly if we don’t keep our eyes on Jesus.
So, how is our lives impacted by what we fix our eyes on.
Confess the Mess: All of the Mess
Insta-pots are so cool to cook with and much safer than old pressure cookers like my great grandmother used—with the grape jam all over the stove, wall and ceiling and the lid on the other side of the room—yep! Bring the Insta-Pot.
Sometimes we need to put it all on the table
All the sin
All the hurt
All the wickedness
All the doubt and unbelief
GOD IS FAITHFUL TO FORGIVE!
But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
Popping the release value and confessing the whole mess brings complete forgiveness and healing
He never withholds His Love, Kindness, Goodness, nor His forgiveness.
THANK YOU FATHER FOR YOUR FAITHFULNESS.
THE WIZARD OF OZ—has been a timeless book/movie for all ages.
Dorothy is looking how to get home
Scarecrow looking for a brain
Lion is looking for courage
Tin Man looking for a heart of flesh
GOD WANTS TO GIVE A NEW HEART TO YOU!
A Heart of Flesh
And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.*
It’s not about just feeling good
It’s about God’s incredible love for humanity
God wants you and me to experience His Healing Power
Heal our broken hearts
Remove our cold stony heart
Thus, removing the effects of sin and disobedience
We too, can discover God’s tender, responsive heart like the Tin Man—Receive JOY that God gives!
—-—-
SONG SONG SONG - Katlynn
———
SO DO WE GIVE UP AT THE FIRST CURVE ON THIS YELLOW BRICK JOURNEY ?
I HOPE NOT!!!!
It’s a Marathon—Not a Sprint
13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,* but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
Paul is reminding us that we are in a Race of Faith.
The starting block is our profession of faith
The finish line is Heaven
Paul shares his secrets in running this race well
He never stops running for there’s more ahead for him to pace himself for so, he doesn’t burn out.
He forgets what’s behind him and keeps pressing onto the prize. The finish line!
Life is best looking through the windshield and not the rearview mirror.
Paul trusted God to keep running faithfully — for God will provide all we need to finish well as we TRUST him.
Maturity in our walk with God isn’t a stage presentations, maturity is Trusting God in this process of knowing him through Jesus Christ.
Maturity comes by following the gold standard… God’s Word.
Being submitting in ALL of our life to God as He works his plan in us.
ptl