Untitled Sermon (2)
Notes
Transcript
Intro
So last week we started talking about the question Who am I? As a teenager, you find yourself in a stage of life where you’re being asked to find an answer to that question. But what makes this so tricky is how many bad answers there are to that question. Answers that take us places we don’t want to go, and make us people we don’t want to be. So , how can we navigate these challenging years with wisdom and care… in a way that won’t lead to regret?
We look to Jesus. We let His words and life show us the answer to this big question. Last week we learned a powerful truth that we have value, we have a purpose, and we are loved because we have been made in the image of God.
Remember the Mona Lisa? a masterpiece… Throw poop on it…?
That poop is what we are going to talk about tonight.
So I have 5 siblings and we didn’t always get along
My twin brother tied me to a telephone pole so I returned the favor, upside down, to a pine tree
But dad came by
Show of hands, how many of you are willing to admit you’ve done something that you wish you could go back in time and undo?
Take a second and look around
You are not alone.
All of us have done things we regret. We’ve done things we wish we could undo.
We’ve all done things that are wrong. Using Bible language, we would say it this way: We have all sinned
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Maybe you hear that and it makes you really uncomfortable. Maybe you’ve seen that word “sin” used as a weapon to condemn and shame you or others
That is not how we are going to use it because that is not how Jesus used it, or even Paul who wrote Romans.
Sinners aren’t just those kids - the ones with the big SINS
We are all sinners. That includes me.
And that is why we all need grace.
That is why the Bible is such good news.
Through Jesus, God has made a way for us to be forgiven of our sins and adopted into His family
Tonight, we are taking a closer look at the beautiful mystery of God’s grace because I AM A SINNER SAVED BY GRACE
We are going to look @ Ephesians 2:1-10 and see what Paul shows us about the damage of sin and the power of Grace
1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
Paul is writing this to some new Christians. He’s reminding them of the reality that sin doesn’t just hurt someone’s feelings or make God upset. Sin KILLS our souls. It brings death. What is sin?
Sin is a disease of self-centeredness that blinds us to the image of God in ourselves and in others.
Verse 1 shows us that sin = death
Maybe you know the story of when sin entered the world
Adam and Eve walking around paradise to this one tree they were told not to eat from
Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil
Snake - tempts them
FOMO - They decide to disobey God because they want to know what evil is...
So, sin came in
it blinds us to what is good and what is best
Sin, like the poop, covers our eyes to what God has for us and keeps us from living where He wants us to go.
So what does Ephesians 2:1-3 teach us about sin?
When we are living in sin, being led by our own selfish desires, we are actually living in obedience to the devil and in opposition to God
The devil wants to blind us to what is good and true and beautiful and get us so focused on ourselves that we can’t even see the destruction we are causing, in our own lives and in the lives of others
Now you might be like “I’m not that bad of a person”, or “I can’t even remember a time that I sinned”
I have a list here of things that God considers sin
telling a lie
talking bad about people behind their back.
cheating on a test
stealing something from a sibling
caring about your social status more than what God says
being a flexer
sleeping with your boyfriend or girlfriend
not using kind and uplifting words
Can we all agree that we all have poop on our face? this is an US issue not them way over there. We are all sinners. We are all subject to God’s anger.
But here is the good news:
Ephesians 2:4-5.
We have all made a mess of our lives, but the mercy of God wants to make us new.
Sin separates us from God, but it does not disqualify us from His grace
In fact, it is only because we are sinners that we can actually receive grace because Grace is literally getting what you don’t deserve.
Picking back up in Ephesians 2:6-7.
Do you feel that? Do you recognize the significance of what Paul is saying?
In vs 1 he showed us that our sins left