U-Turn

Alright, we’re in for a ride today! Let’s start off with honesty time! Who has ever made a mistake? We all mess things up. Are you the type of person that even with the simplest of tasks you somehow find a way to mess it up? Like these pictures…

You Had One Job Pictures (included in the folder)

As Christians, we basically have one job. Jesus said, “Follow me.” That’s our one job: to follow Jesus. So if he doesn’t want us to do something, we don’t do it. If he wants to do something, we do it. We put others first, we love, we serve, we tell our friends about the Gospel, we forgive, we do what Jesus did.

The problems in life comes when we don’t do our job. And the difference between those funny pictures and messing up while following Christ is that we don’t just make mistakes… we sin. Jesus didn’t die for “mistakers,” he died for sinners. That’s you and me. All of us have a sin problem.

Thank God for the Gospel, which changes everything for us. James chapter 4, in ten short verses, gives us a picture of life without Christ, the Gospel of grace that Christ offers, and how we go about receiving it. We are going to break it down into three sections so let’s begin by reading James 4:1-4.

James 4:1–4 CSB

What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from your passions that wage war within you? You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulterous people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God.

Sin that Ensnares

This doesn’t sound good, does it? But this is exactly what sin does. It ensnares, destroys and kills whatever it touches. Wherever there is sin, there are consequences. God and the devil are waging war over your soul and the battlefield is the temptations you face every day. James says when we choose sin over God, it ensnares us and ends up in fighting, jealousy, murder, pride, and selfishness. And ultimately, it ends up making us enemies of God because he can’t be associated with sin.

Men who trap animals in Africa for zoos in America say that one of the hardest animals to catch is the ring-tailed monkey. For the Zulus of that continent, however, it's simple. They've been catching this agile little animal with ease for years. The method the Zulus use is based on knowledge of the animal. Their trap is nothing more than a melon growing on a vine. The seeds of this melon are a favorite of the monkey. Knowing this, the Zulus simply cut a hole in the melon, just large enough for the monkey to insert his hand to reach the seeds inside. The monkey will stick his hand in, grab as many seeds as he can, then start to withdraw it. This he cannot do. His fist is now larger than the hole. The monkey will pull and tug, screech and fight the melon for hours. But he can't get free of the trap unless he gives up the seeds, which he refuses to do. Meanwhile, the Zulus sneak up and nab him.

See, this is what Satan does to us. He knows us so well and knows what we like and what temptations we can’t say “no” to. So he’ll dangle it out there and let us grab hold of it, but sin will never fulfill you. It will always ensnare you. It makes big promises but they are always empty. It’s what Satan does best.

Proverbs 5:22 (NIV) says,

Proverbs 5:22 NIV

The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast.

James 1:14-15 (NLT) says,

James 1:14–15 CSB

But each person is tempted when he is drawn away and enticed by his own evil desire. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.

Pass out Popsicle sticks

So what sin really has a grip on you? What does Satan tempt you with the most? You know what you struggle with; maybe it’s two or three things. Whatever it is, I want you to take your Popsicle stick and write those sins down on it. Then hold it in your hand for the rest of the service. At the end we’ll do something else with it, so just hang on to it for now.

The Devil came to steal, kill, and destroy, and that’s what that sin will do in your life. That’s what sin does. No one has ever sinned and truly come out better in the end. When you choose to sin you choose to suffer— you will always lose.

You might say, “But I’ve been holding on too long already. It’s no longer I who has the grip but the sin has a grip on me. I can’t stop. How can God forgive me? How could he love me with all this sin in my life? You don’t know how bad it is.”

You’re right, I don’t know what you’ve done, and I don’t know how bad it is. But I do know this: no matter how messy your life is, God is greater than your sin. He is stronger.

James has some news for us. Let’s read James 4:4-6 (NLT).

James 4:4–6 CSB

You adulterous people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God. Or do you think it’s without reason that the Scripture says: The spirit he made to dwell in us envies intensely? But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.

Grace that Restores

Listen, God made us so that we would live in an intimate relationship with him. An intimate relationship is one that can’t be divided. So James is saying if you are friends with the world, and you just go along with what everyone else in the world is doing, regardless of what God says, then you’re not friends with God. If you’re a Christian, verse 5 tells us God has put his spirit inside of us so that we can live in his presence and under his guidance every day.

Yet, we still turn our back on him. So how is God able to keep reaching out for us, when we clearly don’t deserve it? Verse 6 tells us: he gives more and more grace. Grace is receiving something we don’t deserve for something we could never do on our own. If you are able to humble yourself and place yourself under God’s authority by become a follower of Jesus, then God will give you the grace that you desperately need. Grace… it is God giving us what we don’t deserve: life. And it’s also God not giving us what we do deserve: death.

In 2 Corinthians 12:9 (NLT), Paul writes:

2 Corinthians 12:9 CSB

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me.

In Roman 6:14 (NLT), Paul writes:

Romans 6:14 CSB

For sin will not rule over you, because you are not under the law but under grace.

And the apostle John writes in John 1:16 (NLT):

John 1:16 CSB

Indeed, we have all received grace upon grace from his fullness,

Let me tell you the story I heard about a minister and his family. He had three sons, and one day, they were just disobeying him left and right. It culminated in a moment when he asked his middle son to help pick up something, and his son looked at him and said NO! For the dad, this was the last straw. So he told his boy to come out to the porch swing because he was going to talk to him and give him a spanking. Out on the porch he explained to his son why what he did was wrong and asked him if he understood. He son said “yes.” So he had him lean over his leg and told him that he was going to give him his consequence now. This dad raised his hand and swung it down as hard as he could on his own leg. His son winched and realized he didn’t get hit. 2 more times the father swung and slapped his own leg. Finally, his son was like, “Dad, why are you hitting yourself?” The father said, “Son, we’ve all messed up. I’ve sinned against my Heavenly Father. But when the time came for him to give me my punishment, he took it upon himself. That’s called grace. And there’s no greater proof that God loves you.”

God loves you. I can’t say it enough. God loves you. God loves you. God loves you. We have all messed up and done things that God did not want us to do. That’s called sin. And we’ve seen that all sin does is mess things up with its destructive consequences. But God gives grace. No matter how bad it’s gotten for you, no matter what you’ve done, God gives you grace. God’s grace is deeper than the depth of your sin. God’s grace is greater than any sin you’ve ever committed or ever will commit.

Each of us is dirty and stained from our sin. And Jesus came to earth, to the mess that we made, and he had all the right in the world to wipe us out. Yet, he chose to give us grace and clean us off by taking our dirt and sin upon himself and dying on the cross as punishment for our sin.

Wherever you are at in life, God can save you. His grace means that he will forgive you. God’s grace is a grace that restores.

Repentance that Sets You Free

Have you ever walked into a pole because you weren’t paying attention? No, you’d never do that. Maybe you’ve just tripped over something because you were texting and walking. I messed up my shoulder when I was in elementary school because I was biking distracted. I was drinking (coke) and driving. I dropped my bottle, looked down, looked up, and BOOM! tree! Imagine what would have happened. If I stopped, picked up the bottle, put it away and ride my bike like I was supposed to?

That is similar to what repentance is supposed to be like.

Repentance is when you are going in a dangerous direction, a direction leading you away from God, and you make a U-Turn. You stop going that direction and you turn around. It’s not just an apology either. Have the time, we’re more sorry we got caught than we are sorry for commiting the sin. True repentance is making the decision to remove that from your life! It’s more than just changing your behavior, it’s a chance of attitude.

Check out James 4:7-10 (NLT).

James 4:7–10 CSB

Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

James told us about our sin, and then described how God responds with grace. In these verses, he shows us what our response should be. When God’s grace intersects with our sin, there’s only one response: falling on our face in repentance before God.

When we sin, in order to be right with God again, we simply try harder to be a better person, or read our Bible more, or go to church more. Jesus is not after our attendance, he's after our repentance. He wants our heart.

revise the following paragraph.

The life of a Christ follower is a life that chooses sacrifice over selfishness. We must always be willing to submit to God even at the expense of our own selfish desires.

We have the power, the weapons, and the armor to be able to stand firm against the Devil’s schemes. Yet, it’s only when we submit to God that we able to resist the devil. This is the where true repentance happens.

Repentance is not a change of behavior; it’s a change of mind, which leads to a change of behavior. So it’s saying, “I was going this way, walking down the road of sin, and I want to change course. I’m changing my mind and my direction to resist and walk away from the Devil his lies.”

This is the action that repentance produces. It is turning away from the sins and idols that have kept hold of us, and turning instead to God, who is the only one able to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You’ll never get out of sin by making more promises to God, but by confession, repentance, and drawing near to the God who loves you and gives you grace.

Putting your life under God’s authority, resisting the devil’s temptations, and drawing near to God— this is the only way to break the power of sin in your life. Let’s be real. Right now, most of you are holding on to a sin that you’re not letting go of. Like the monkeys who were unwilling to let go of the seeds, because they wanted them so bad. Satan is coming in for the kill. Meanwhile, God is crying out to you: “Let go, turn around, draw near to me, I forgive you.”

Turn me around, pick me up, and undo what I’ve become. Bring me back to the place of forgiveness and grace. I need you. I need your help, I can’t do this myself. You’re the only one that I can undo what I’ve become.

You’ve been holding on to that Popsicle stick with your sin on it for quite a while now. God wants to break that sin out of your life. He wants you to let go of it and be set free from it. Do you want that, too?

Let’s take a minute to repent of that sin. Tell it to God. Pray and confess, submit and draw near to him.

[a moment of silent prayer.]

Are you finally ready to get rid of your sin? As a symbol of repenting and breaking free of our sin, we are all going to break our sticks together. If you really desire to repent and you are making a commitment to submit to God, resist the devil, and draw near to God… I’m going to say 1, 2, 3, and then when I say go let’s break these sins. Are you ready?

1, 2, 3… Go!

THAT is awesome. That’s the best noise you’ll hear all day. That’s a sound that God rejoices over!

If you broke that stick and have repented of that sin in your heart and mind, praise God. It’s not over, the battle will happen when you leave this place.

Repentance is tough. It’s not a one-time thing, either. Here’s an idea that I have found to make the difference for me when I need to repent. Don’t repent alone. We make our faith so personal and private. It’s not meant to be. It’s meant to be shared. You are not the body of Christ, WE are the body of Christ. When YOU need to repent find someone from this church to walk with you. Someone you can confess to, someone you can pray with, someone who will ask the tough questions and help you move past that sin in your life. The enemy wants to keep us isolated, he wants us to feel dirty/ashamed. Don’t listen to him. Let one another in this church family help. There will be times I will be there for you, but there will most certainly be times when you will be there for me.

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