Renewing Your Mind

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

APRIL 1 at 5pm - “Thanksgiving Meal”

April 9th at 10am - Resurrection Sunday

We need people willing to model SACRIFICE on Resurrection Sunday by serving in our Kids Min! Will you sacrifice your comfort, your routine, your seat, and instead invest in the Next Generation.

This Monday - 6:30pm at Weber Street Christian Church in Urbana, IL for Praise & Prayer.

This Wednesday - church council meeting at 6pm.

ANNUAL MEMBER/PARTNER MEETING AFTER SERVICE

Register - Check-in - Don’t lose your ratification Ballot

*CHURCH UPDATES: Digital and paper connect Card

DECLARATION:

Ephesians 2:20–22 (ESV)

20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

SVCC is built by God, upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, and with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone.

We are joined together by union with Christ, we are growing, and we are a dwelling place of God by his Spirit.

Prayer for...

INTRODUCTION:

Review:

OPENING SCRIPTURE / WHY?…

Romans 12:2 “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.”

TODAY: Why do we behave irrationally?

Do you behave irrationally?

Want to be nice but YELL

Want to save money but SPEND

Want to trust God but WORRY

We behave irrationally because of neural pathways

Wires are crossed

Experiences are wiring - Programming brains

New Experiences create neural pathways

Examples:

-Baby smiles—Mom smiles back (“Goo-goo”)—Smiling good.

-Baby touches hot stove—Ouch—Hot stove bad.

-Baby wants sucker—Mom no—Baby cries—Mom gives sucker.

*the more you think something the easier it is to think again*

How do we train our minds?

ESV: Philippians 4:8 “8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (context: Paul is in prison as he writes this)

Philippians 4:8 NKJV

8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.

think/meditate in Phil. 4:8 has the sense of pondering or reflecting

We need to practice FOCUS

MINDS DRIFT often towards the lies so we must TRAIN it to focus on Jesus!

Focus our minds on Jesus

Hebrews 12:2 “2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Remember that our minds are always moving in the direction of our strongest thoughts!

Meditate on Scripture

Joshua 1:8 “8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

Psalm 1:1-4 “1 Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; 2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. 4 The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away.”

Psalm 119:15 “15 I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways.”

Psalm 143:5 “5 I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.”

Read It - Write It - Think It - Confess It - Believe It

Creates new neural pathways - renews our minds with truth!

in 2 Timothy 1:7 (NKJV), “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” So I thank You Lord that I do not, and will not, have a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

in Psalm 103:2–3 (NKJV), “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases.” So I choose to bless You from the depths of my soul, and I will not forget all Your benefits. You forgive all of my iniquities, and You heal all of my diseases.

... in Isaiah 1:19 (NIV84), “If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land.” Therefore, I repent from any and all unwillingness and disobedience, and I choose to be willing and obedient to You, Lord. And therefore, according to Your word, I will not only continue to eat and be provided for, but through Your blessing I will eat the best from the land.

If you will not control what you think, you will not control what you do!

Rabbits vs. Elephants - The Church in the US today often considers Elephants as the success story and yet the Rabbit churches continue to show they mutiply more churches and leaders…We must change our thoughts from wanting to be an Elephant church to being a Rabbit church :)

Elephants have babies at 18 years of age and are fertile 4x a year; rabbits can have babies at 4 months old and are practically continuously fertile.

Elephants are carry baby for 22 months; rabbits for 1-month.

3 years: 3-elephants; 50’643 rabbits

5 years: 4-elephants (38’000 lbs of food); 69 million rabbits (925 millions lbs of food)

ELEPHANTS MAY BE LARGER AND MORE IMPRESSIVE BUT RABBITs MULTIPLY MUCH FASTER OVER TIME.

Matthew 28:18-19 “18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

Even in the Church we need to change our mindset!

Conclusion/Reflection:

Communion

Communion Is a Declaration of Dependence

In John 6:53 Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.”

· When we take communion, we are declaring our total dependence upon Jesus Christ and His power.

· As we surrender to His lordship and depend upon Him for our strength, a vitality of the Holy Spirit is released in us when we partake of His body and blood. (The opposite of “not life” is LIFE or vitality or dynamism)

· The New Covenant releases supernatural energy into our lives through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Annual meeting - register/check-in/ballot