The God That Resurrects

Good morning and welcome to CCC. We are so glad to have each of you with us this morning. I am sure I will regret this statement in a couple weeks but isnt it nice to feel heat in the sun again????

Please put the Disciples Path up

We are called to be discipled and to make disciples. CCC is starting on that journey by beginning an intentional discipleship group taking an intentional journey together. The platform we will use is called Disciples Path it is a 6 part journey, that the sr high class is also partaking in, where we will grow closer to Jesus and each other and I pray that lives are changed,

Families are changed

Workplaces are changed

CCC is changed and

Most importantly Nevada is changed for Christ as a result of men getting serious about discipleship

If you would like to join us on this journey it begins Wednesday June 7 at 7 pm. Let me or Tommie Or Gary know you are in by Sunday May 21st so I can get materials ordered

I have created a Children’s Church schedule. Please sign up to do Children’s Church. With Nolan’s health Sheryl is unable to continue in serving the children.

Please sign up. If no one signs up there will just not be children’s church that Sunday.

We have been talking these past 8 or 9 weeks about growing and serving and putting God first.

Here is a real life opportunity to do just that.

Let’s Pray

START OBS

The God that resurrects.

What does that mean?

Resurrect means restore to life.

The God who restores to life.

Well pastor Josh that’s great but I am not dead.

Physically you are correct but Spiritually you are either dead in your sins or resurrected to be dead to your sins

The question is are you resurrected?

Very quickly this morning I want to look to scripture to show you dead in sin.

That we are born in sin

Born dead in our sins

This is called the Roman road and is a great set of scriptures to use to help someone work through salvation.

Romans 3:23

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“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

All have sinned.

All are short of the glory of God.

All.

Everyone born.

Everyone who has lived, is living or will live will come short of the glory of God because all sin

Romans 6:23

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“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The price for that sin…wages....is death

Physical death which we see is God’s response to Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden

Spiritual death…eternal separation from God in hell because of sin.

That is the price.

Blood has to be shed for forgiveness of sins

You can’t pay that price because your blood is not perfect....you have sinned…i have sinned

Romans 5:8

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“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

God knew we would sin

God knew the wages of that sin was death

God knew we couldn’t pay those wages

God then sent Jesus to die for us because He was perfect

He could pay the wages

He could be the one and only way to salvation.

How does one then become saved

Romans 10:9

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“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”

Confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus

Believe in thine heart God raised Him from the dead and you are saved.

That is the starting point.

That is the simple truth of the Gospel

That is also where most people stop

Either they reject the truth all together....remember rejecting part of the truth, even the smallest amount is rejecting all of it.

Or

They buy salvation.

They confess and believe but never move past that to truly be alive in Christ and dead to sin

Many today say all you need is Jesus and they are correct

Many today say all I have to do is believe..partially correct

James 2:19

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“Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.”

It is more than belief.

It is more than saying a sinners prayer

It is more than coming forward out of emotion or guilt

Believe and confess in response to the gospel.

There is a key word that has lost it’s meaning in Christianity

Repent

Many see repentance as a bad word

As a word that is no longer applicable to Jesus and salvation

If that is you shame on you for buying the devils lies because that is where it comes from

Repent and be baptized.

Jesus told us to repent

Matthew 4:17

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“From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Luke 5:31-32

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“And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

Repentance is a huge part of resurrection to us as Christians

Repenting is the key to salvation.

Now don’t get me wrong Jesus is salvation

John 14:6

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“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Jesus is the only way to salvation.

Repentance is the response to Jesus

Repentance leads to resurrection

What is repentance

Repentance as used in

Acts 2:38

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“Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Comes from a Greek verb that means to think differently or afterwards

I believe Ephesians gives us an explanation of being dead in sin.

Ephesians 2:1-3

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“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”

This is what we must repent of

The Gospel demands that we change our mind or thinking from what is described here

Dead in trespasses

Walking according to the course of this world

Walking according to the prince of the power of the air

Walking according to the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience

satan is who that is describing

How do you know if you are here.....children of disobedience…walking with satan

Vs 3 Conversations means way of life

“among whom also we all had our way of life in times past in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh, and of the mind...”

You do and did you boo

You were only living once

If it felt good you did it

You allowed feelings

emotions

your flesh to call the shots and drive the bus

Children of wrath by nature dead in your sins

I want you to be honest with yourself and God this morning.

What is your lifestyle?

Who are you repping?

satan

or

God

Here is one of the most frustrating things in being a pastor, probably so frustrating because I struggle with it as well

God loves you so much, that is not the frustrating part

God loves you so much

God loves me so much, that He gives us free will

He wants us to want Him

He wants us to seek Him

He wants us to see how good He is

He wants us to taste and see how wonderful His grace and mercy and love really is

Because we have tasted and seen we want more

We want a true relationship with Jesus

We leave the old things

We leave the worldly things

We leave our old thoughts and beliefs

We leave our old behaviors and patterns

Why, not to gain His love

Not to gain salvation

But because of it!

Repent.

Change your mind

Think differently

because of the Gospel

once you accept Jesus....believe and confess…make Jesus the true Lord and Savior of your life..

Then the Holy Spirit begins to change you

Resurrects you through repentance

Ephesians 5:8-14

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“For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”

A resurrected life is clear to see

1st repentance…a changed mind

You used to be darkness but now are light

These are opposites

Completely at odds with each other

This is where the church and many christians are wrong today.

Many believe you can still entertain darkness.....

Many believe you can still like darkness

Many believe you can still be darkness yet be saved

Notice Paul’s words here

“For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light.”

You are one or the other not both

walk as children of light

again you are children of light....it is who you are

Church

Brothers and sister in Christ

Your walk matters

If you have been resurrected by God through Jesus Christ your walk must reflect it

Why?

Because to be a child of light

to walk as a child of light

you must repent

Change your mind from darkness to light

Example

If you were walking East and suddenly realized that where you needed to go was to the West

What would you do?

Exactly you would turn around and start walking West

you wouldn’t say well I like some things that are in the East so I will walk that way but still want to end up at my destination

Wrong

They are in opposite directions....you can’t ever go West by heading East

God through Paul explains what walking in the light

Walking as children of light looks like

Praise God for that

Fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22-23

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“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

The fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth

If you as a Christian

A child of light

a repented, resurrected believer, do anything a fruit of the Spirit must be present

How do I know what God wants me to do or think or say

Fruit of the Spirit prove what is acceptable to God

God goes further look at vs 11 back in Ephesians 5

Have no fellowship with unfruitful works of darkness

Fellowship is a Greek verb meaning to share in company with, co-participate, communicate with, partake of

Don’t participate in anything not of God

again how do you know

Fruit of the Spirit

Don’t communicate with or partake of

This will cost you

This will require sacrifice

Maybe that is turning off secular music that is unfruitful

Maybe that is not watching evil, dark movies

That is for sure not turning to porn or alcohol or drugs or sex or pride or greed or food or whatever you turn to instead of God

Not participating in gossip at work or walmart or social media

This is all encompassing

You can’t have a church you

a family you

a work you

a social you

No you are a child of darkness or a child of light

Will you fail

Absolutely

When you do fail and you realize your sin, through conviction, you sprint to God

Get on your knees

confess and seek forgiveness from God for that sin and be restored!

That is what a repented resurrected life looks like

Abraham

Moses

David

Peter

Paul

All fell

All sinned

All walked where they shouldnt have walk

But when convicted they all sprinted to Jesus to confess and seek forgiveness

That is repentance.....changing your mind not to follow the world and children of disobedience

When someone does wrong today they look first to hide it then for someone to blame if they can’t hide it

They say it is their truth so you have to accept it

They say it is how they feel and their feelings are more important than yours so you just have to deal with it and move on

God says

Confess

Seek Forgiveness

I John 1:9

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“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

That is truth. The world and satan and children of disobedience reject this truth

Do You?

When was the last time you truly confessed your sins to God

When was the last time through tears of sorrow did you cry out to God because you realized that sin broke God’s heart

It drove a wedge between you and God

It screamed that Jesus and the cross was not enough for you

You were broken by your sin because your realize that sin is separating you from God

That is what sin is

That is what sin does

That is why you should be wreck when you realize you sin

Not just look to justify it away

Not just look to cover it up

Not just look to be forgiven without acknowledging and mourning that sin

God goes even further

Not only are you not to fellowship with unfruitful works but you are to reprove them

What then is reprove

Greek verb meaning admonish, confute, convict, tell a fault, rebuke

Confute…means according to websters 1828

disprove, proved to be false, prove to be wrong

Not only not participate but speak truth

Hey it is not right to talk about them behind their back

Abortion is murder

Gay marriage is wrong

There is no gender confusion God created male and female

Pride is a sin

Cheating is wrong

Stealing is wrong

Redefining truth to make you feel better doesn’t change the truth

To a fellow Christian

a child of light

it might sound like this

Are you sure that is a fruitful work and not an unfruitful work?

As a Christian, a child of light vs 12 says “its a shame to even speak of those things which are done of them in secret”

This includes your thoughts and intentions

Church you must first reprove you

Ask God to show you your heart on this

Ask God to reveal things that are wrong

Ask God to reprove you so that you may be broken by those things

Then you may confess those things and be forgiven and restored by God

Vs 14 awake

arise from the dead

Resurrected comes from repentance

Repentance comes from the Gospel

Light comes only from Jesus

I am probably going to step on some toes here. I first want to say how wonderful it is that we have kids running around the church.

Sheryl thank you so much

God laid it on Sheryl’s heart to serve and teach the children

She is in great company by the way......I think there is a scripture about Jesus saying let the children come and if anyone would lead them astray you might as well tie a giant piece of cement around you neck and jump in the ocean

God and Jesus take teaching the children about them very seriously

As I said earlier Nolan is sick, Sheryl is being pulled in many different directions and it is time for US to step in.

Children are a blessing and a great responsibility

I have news for you when you stand in judgement.....yes even Christians will stand in judgement the difference between Christians and non-christians is when it is time for punishment Jesus will declare that one is mine, I have paid their price for all Christians.

when you stand in judgement God is not going to ask how you felt about children’s church

He is not going to ask if you felt called or not

He is not going to ask if you felt prepared

Nope

He is going to ask Why when I placed you at CCC and they needed help in children’s church did you ignore Me

Why did you sit there week after week and not meet needs and serve those around you

Why did you let the children’s church program fail

I have news for you

The Kingdom of God has nothing to do with your feelings and emotions

Yes you are called and equipped and blessed by God with gifts in certain areas

Not everyone is a teacher

I get that but everyone is called and here is the long and short of it

This church, CCC, not Christ’s body, will not survive without serving and teaching and leading kids to salvation.

We will die off and here is what I know

Those kids will be taught the only question is

Will they be taught by children of light or children of darkness.

Prayerfully consider signing up to do children’s church. We have curriculum

We have supplies

We have kids

We need YOU!

This is but one example

People say God wants to give me the desires of my heart

that is true but let’s look at that verse in it’s entirety

Psalm 37:4

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“Delight thyself also in the Lord; And he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”

Remember when we talked about the God that promises

We talked about conditional and unconditional promises

This is a conditional promise

Look at the verse

Delight thyself also in the Lord

That must happen first

Delight comes from a Hebrew word meaning to be soft, be delicate, be dainty

Those all take full surrender

Humans by nature are not those things,

soft

delicate

dainty

We are hard

rough

aggressive

Repent and be resurrected

Delight in the Lord then He gives you the desires of your heart

Why

Because when you delight in the Lord

When you repent

When you are truly resurrected

Your wants change

Your desires change

It is no longer about you but God first

and others second

You begin to look for needs to meet

You look for areas to serve

You long to share the gospel with people

You long to show Jesus in everything that you do

You step out of your comfort zone and do something that maybe you don’t feel is for you

or something that maybe you don’t feel called to do

But you evaluate your gifts

You evaluate what you are good at

And you say Here I am Lord send me

A repented, resurrected Christian realizes it is all about Jesus and has nothing to do with them

They have changed their minds and now conform to the Word of God

They think differently about the world and those around them and either see a brother or sister in Christ and look to edify and encourage and rebuke and grow them

or

They see someone who is lost and needs the gospel and they speak truth into their lives regardless of the cost

A resurrected Christian relies solely on God and God alone

They are in the Word

They are in prayer

They are being discipled

They are discipling others

They are preaching the gospel

They are doing all they can to glorify God and build His kingdom

Where are you this morning?

As this song plays ask God to show you and respond accordingly.

Invitation