Transformation - The Miracle of Christianity

Ephesians 2:10  (NLT)

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.

Let us conform our lives to Jesus and to what God has said to us in the Bible.

1.  The Gospel means change.  

2 Corinthians 5:17 (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!

John 3:1-7 (NLT)

3 There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee. 

2 After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus. “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us. Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”

Jesus was not sent only to teach us.  We must not know Jesus only as Rabbi.

  

3 Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 

6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.  

7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’

Jesus didn't come to conform us to other Christians outwardly.  He came to transform us inwardly through His Holy Spirit. 

Romans 12:2  (ESV)

2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

2.  God loves us as we are, but too much to leave us that way.

John 1:14 (ESV)

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Grace attracts.  Truth unravels. 

Grace invites us to be free, but Truth sets us free.

3.  If we're not changing, we might not really know God.  

1 John 1:6-10  (NLT)

6 So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. 

7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 

9 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. 

10 If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.

We must call sin...sin.  God says that we must confess sin as sin.  

The miracle of Christianity is that God changes our desires.

1 John 5:3 (NLT)

3 Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. 

How to change...

1.  We must get past who we were, and focus on who God wants us to be.

If you focus on your future, you'll forget about your past.  

Colossians 3:7-8  (NLT)

7 You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world. 8 But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.

2.  We must give God permission to change anything.

Galatians 5:19-24  (NLT)

19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.

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.

Psalm 37:4-6  (NLT)

⁴ Take delight in the Lord,
    and he will give you your heart’s desires.

⁵ Commit everything you do to the Lord.
    Trust him, and he will help you.
⁶ He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,

    and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

God will give the want (desires) that He'd have for you to have.  

Philippians 2:13  (NLT)

13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

3.  We must allow God to begin to change us today. 

Church can't change you, but it can create a moment that makes you to want to change. 

2 Corinthians 3:18 (NKJV)

18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

One moment in God's manifest presence creates change.

Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands   
https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/transformation  

Take this job and love it!

Ecclesiastes 2:17  (NLT)

17 So I came to hate life (like my job) because everything done here under the sun is so troubling. Everything is meaningless—like chasing the wind.

Colossians 3:1-2  (NLT)

3 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 

2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.

What condition is my heart going to be when I get to work?   It is a choice to think from earth's perspective or heaven's.

Colossians 3:12-14 (NLT) 

12 Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. 

13 Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.

14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.  

Patience has never put itself on for me.  We must put on love.  That's what ties it all together. 

1.  I must discover the purpose for my life to make a difference.   

Ask will it show up in heaven?  A career will give you something to live on.  A calling will give you something to live for.  

Acts 20:23-24 (MSG)

22-24 “But there is another urgency before me now. I (Paul) feel compelled to go to Jerusalem. 

I’m completely in the dark about what will happen when I get there. I do know that it won’t be any picnic, for the Holy Spirit has let me know repeatedly and clearly that there are hard times and imprisonment ahead. But that matters little. 

What matters most to me is to finish what God started: the job the Master Jesus gave me of letting everyone I meet know all about this incredibly extravagant generosity of God.

  

2.  I must realize that my job is my ministry location.  

  

We can't make a difference if we are not different.   Paul was just a tent maker when he penned most of the New Testament, and impacted his world. 

Acts 18:1-4 (NLT)

 

18 Then Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 

2 There he became acquainted with a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently arrived from Italy with his wife, Priscilla. They had left Italy when Claudius Caesar deported all Jews from Rome. 

3 Paul lived and worked with them, for they were tentmakers just as he was.

4 Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike.

3.  We must work for God and not for people.  

Colossians 3:23-24 (NLT)

23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 

24 Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.

We have an audience of one.  We live for our Master Jesus to say well done.  

Today, we must live as if it is the only day that will be remembered. 

Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands

https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/take-this-job-and-love-it

Next Steps

Mark 8:34-36  (NLT)

34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he (Jesus) said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 

35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. 

36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?

Jesus has a message for us.

1.  If you are just a curious person in the crowd,  come and see.  

You don't have to believe in Him for God to speak to you. 

2.  If you are just in the congregation, come and join us.  

   

We are not a building, but we are a family. 

3.  If you are already committed, come and grow with us. 

We are a very large church on Sunday, but a very small one Monday through Saturday through our small groups. 

4,  If you are hard core, come and serve with us.   

Come and find your potential by reaching others for Christ.  

Matthew 10:32-33  (NLT)

32“Everyone who acknowledges me (Jesus) publicly here on earth, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. 33 But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.

Chris Hodges, Church of the Highlands