Tonight, we are continuing our study of Believe.
The last three weeks we have been talking about God and the evidence that God exists, the truth of His word, and the things that we place in our lives that hinder our relationship with Him.
Last week was really difficult as I asked you to share those things in your life that keep you from making Christ the Lord of your life with someone else.
Has it helped? Did you hold each other accountable?
It’s difficult to change, why because it takes constant action.
Most of the time, we make a decision to change and never follow through with it.
Change takes dedication, but we are not alone in changing our life for Christ.
If we were alone in this, no one would be able to do it.
We, by ourselves, can never correctly change our lives for Christ.
That’s why Christ takes us as we are; we could never do it without Him.
Christ is not asking you to come to Him with your life all straightened out.
We can’t do it and He is the only one who can straighten it out for us.
Christ has promised that He will be with us and help us move closer to Him.
Many people make the mistake of believing that Christ could never change them because they’ve made too many mistakes or that they’re too messed up.
But Christ is the only one who can really make us right, so we have to go to Him.
But it takes us deciding to turn to Him and let Him take control.
Tonight, we are going to develop strategies and map out how we can make a permanent change for Christ in lives.
James 5:16
Last week, I asked you to do an extremely difficult thing.
I asked you picked someone to share your most private sins with; those things that keep you from letting Christ be the Lord of your life.
Last week, you made a confession that there were things in your life that displeased God.
That was an extremely bold step, but can we make a permanent change in those areas to get rid of that behavior altogether?
I believe the answer is yes.
I believe we can change with help of Christ and the help of other Christian believers.
Tonight, I’m challenging you to change.
I want you to pick someone to be your accountability partner for one month.
You an your accountibility partner should agree to meet or talk at least once a week for the month of March 2009.
You need to agree to share everything in your life with this person and be totally honest with your life.
You should share your struggles, your failures, and your hopes.
You should not hide any part of your life.
You should also read your Bible daily and attend church services as best as you are able to.
You should pray daily for your partner and his or her struggles and dreams.
It's an agreement you make between God, your partner, and yourself.
Doing this will help hold you accountable for your life in Christ.
I believe we can change for Christ, what do you believe?
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Believe part 3
We are continuing our study of Believe.
The last two weeks we have been talking about God and the evidence that God exists.
Evidence of God is found in nature, in science, and in logic.
The fact that life exists at all is a testament to some kind of intelligent creator, and we know that creator to be God.
Last week, we talked about His Word and the fact that it is as true today as when it was first written.
Tonight, we are going to look into the truth of what we believe and see if that belief matches the way we live.
Most of us in this room have a strong opinion of what we believe.
Nothing you do can change our mind; we believe what we believe because we want to believe it.
But really how much do we believe it?
Is it just about having some stubborn belief system, or is about a life transforming belief that changes our inner being?
You say you believe in God and His word; it’s the truth, you say.
If that’s true then why don’t we follow Him?
Why don’t we do what He commands us?
John 14:15
If you have been changed by Christ, you are a new creation. (II Corinthians 5:17)
We are not to continue doing the same sins we used to do.
We are to take off the old man and put on the new man.
Ephesians 4:17-24
We are to stop living like the rest of the world and start living the way Christ has called us to live.
Some of you may think that I don’t know what’s going on.
I know what many of you are involved in.
Drugs, alcohol, pre-marital sex, etc.
Just the other day I had a parent come to me and share that they had caught their child involved in alcohol, smoking, sex, and lying.
They had taught their child the truth of Christ and the child claims to be a believer, but is still holding on to the things of this world.
The reality of these things is that they lead to death, a poor witness, and pain in the life of everyone involved.
Christ has called you to be different!!
He did not hang broken and naked on a cross so that you can live however you want.
He died to give you real life, not the life of this world.
If you have given Christ your life, sin is to be dead to you!
Romans 6:1-14
We are to put to death those things in our life that are not of God.
Sexual immorality, drugs, alcohol, lying, cheating, gossiping, etc.
Those types of things should be dead in our lives.
If we are going to say that we believe in God, it should be more than in word.
It has to be shown that we believe in God by the very actions of our life.
Our problem is that when we ask Christ into our heart, we too often fail to make Him Lord of our life.
We don’t want to give anyone else the throne of our lives.
So, instead of putting off the old man and keeping him off, we keep trying to put him back on again.
We keep trying to do these things that are unholy and claim to be a follower of God.
Christ tells us not only to make these sins dead in our lives, but to avoid even the appearance of evil. (I Thessalonians 5:22)
Tonight, I want to give you an opportunity to respond to this call of God upon our lives.
I want you to list those sins in your life that are keeping you from making Christ the Lord of your life.
And once you have made this list, I want you to find someone and share your list with them to help hold you accountable.
This maybe the hardest thing anyone has ever asked you to do.
Then, we are going to burn the lists in two weeks.
The question is, what do you believe?
The last two weeks we have been talking about God and the evidence that God exists.
Evidence of God is found in nature, in science, and in logic.
The fact that life exists at all is a testament to some kind of intelligent creator, and we know that creator to be God.
Last week, we talked about His Word and the fact that it is as true today as when it was first written.
Tonight, we are going to look into the truth of what we believe and see if that belief matches the way we live.
Most of us in this room have a strong opinion of what we believe.
Nothing you do can change our mind; we believe what we believe because we want to believe it.
But really how much do we believe it?
Is it just about having some stubborn belief system, or is about a life transforming belief that changes our inner being?
You say you believe in God and His word; it’s the truth, you say.
If that’s true then why don’t we follow Him?
Why don’t we do what He commands us?
John 14:15
If you have been changed by Christ, you are a new creation. (II Corinthians 5:17)
We are not to continue doing the same sins we used to do.
We are to take off the old man and put on the new man.
Ephesians 4:17-24
We are to stop living like the rest of the world and start living the way Christ has called us to live.
Some of you may think that I don’t know what’s going on.
I know what many of you are involved in.
Drugs, alcohol, pre-marital sex, etc.
Just the other day I had a parent come to me and share that they had caught their child involved in alcohol, smoking, sex, and lying.
They had taught their child the truth of Christ and the child claims to be a believer, but is still holding on to the things of this world.
The reality of these things is that they lead to death, a poor witness, and pain in the life of everyone involved.
Christ has called you to be different!!
He did not hang broken and naked on a cross so that you can live however you want.
He died to give you real life, not the life of this world.
If you have given Christ your life, sin is to be dead to you!
Romans 6:1-14
We are to put to death those things in our life that are not of God.
Sexual immorality, drugs, alcohol, lying, cheating, gossiping, etc.
Those types of things should be dead in our lives.
If we are going to say that we believe in God, it should be more than in word.
It has to be shown that we believe in God by the very actions of our life.
Our problem is that when we ask Christ into our heart, we too often fail to make Him Lord of our life.
We don’t want to give anyone else the throne of our lives.
So, instead of putting off the old man and keeping him off, we keep trying to put him back on again.
We keep trying to do these things that are unholy and claim to be a follower of God.
Christ tells us not only to make these sins dead in our lives, but to avoid even the appearance of evil. (I Thessalonians 5:22)
Tonight, I want to give you an opportunity to respond to this call of God upon our lives.
I want you to list those sins in your life that are keeping you from making Christ the Lord of your life.
And once you have made this list, I want you to find someone and share your list with them to help hold you accountable.
This maybe the hardest thing anyone has ever asked you to do.
Then, we are going to burn the lists in two weeks.
The question is, what do you believe?
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