Our greatest need
Unity remnant ministries Collaboration • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 1 viewNotes
Transcript
lets go a head and seek God in prayer
lets go a head and seek God in prayer
God, Many of us are different ages. We come from different backgrounds, different groups, but we all have the same need we all have struggles we all have gone through suffering or maybe are going through suffering. We know that we don't have what we need in and of ourselves, so we come to you do your word To understand the truth, we ask that you would make your word clear.
amen
intro:
intro:
well tonight We will be in second Corinthians 5 verses 14 through 15
so please feel free to turn there if you'd like
but while you turn there wanted to say i am so glad all of you are here tonight.
I hope everyone of you has had a really good week so far.
But I'm also sure there are many of us who did not have a great week this week.
I'm sure for many of us, we barely made it here. So tonight, I hope that God will bless us toning
Throughout scripture, we're told to ask the Lord to fulfill our needs. And tonight, I believe we need him.
We need him to move. We need him to act, and we need him to feed us spiritually.
So tonight let's have that mindset with his word.
Let's read his scripture and dive in hungry for him to feed us, expecting him to provide for us
Tonight, we will be in Second Corinthians. 5:14-15
14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
so tonight i want to ask a question …
What is the greatest problem within the Christian life or at least one of the greatest problems?
sin?
suffering
Sloth or laziness
Temptation?
What the truth is I think all of these are huge problems in our lives but I think the biggest problem is our love for Christ
Do you think about it when you love someone how often do you purposely wrong them?
When you love someone deeply crazy about them often times all you can think about is trying to make them happy
Trying to please them or make their life better
Illustration of the story from the book the odyssey, the two different captains driving the ships
Our greatest need is the sweeter song it's to be entranced by Christ
I remember when I first became a Christian I was in love with Jesus I was on fire I was chasing after him with everything I had.
i remember ditching my friends to go to my car and read
I remember feeling obsessed, but then, as time went on that Love seemed to Wayne and fizzle out
In revelation, one of the rebukes that Jesus has for the churches Is that they lost their first love
He Commanded them to remember the love they had at first
And I've realized my greatest problem in my life is that I don't love Jesus enough
If you and I loved Jesus, obsessively continually consistently, we wouldn't Easily fall into
temptation
sin
Sloth, stagnation, or estrangement, to Jesus
The greatest problems for the Christian is loving Christ like we should.
I believe the love of Christ is the answer to a holy life
Jesus agrees
37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart with all your mind, and with all your heart
Your heart, your mind, and your soul is fixated on Christ, this world fades away
And when you love Christ, your neighbor, will be loved as well. It will be an overflow.
You see it for a long time I thought second Corinthians 514 was very similar to Matthew 22, telling me that I need to love CHRIST to the point where my love for him controls me controls me
I don't think that's what the passage is saying let's look at it again
2 Corinthians 5:14–15 (ESV)
14 For the love of Christ controls us,
The love of Christ controls us.
This is saying the love of Christ not our love for Christ
You see, we cannot pick ourselves up by your own bootstraps we can't motivate ourselves into loving Christ be ourselves into loving Christ we are not the hero in the story
BUT THE LOVE OF CHRIST CONTROLS US, PAUL SAYS
How did some crazy things he preached IN SO MANY PLACES WHERE HE WAS HATED
Paul was stoned. He was persecuted he was killed or close to it for the gospel
Something had to motivate him, and he didn't have it in and of himself, but he had the love of Christ that would fuel his love for Christ
Understanding Christ's love for us is the pure motivating factor for a Christian
So let's walk through this how much does Jesus, love you and I?
Well, we can go back to the beginning and see that God created a perfect world
That sin entered the world, and we all have become corrupt
Romans 3:23 (ESV)
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
We need to realize that we don't deserve anything but Death
All we have to offer to God are filthy rags
3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
I'll have a history…
Paul had history
15 The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.
Paul murdered Christians and then became one himself. He came in to Christianity with baggage.
Yes, to truly appreciate the love of Christ we need to recognize our own sin.
10 For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.
You and I have sinned before a holy God
Romans 6:23 (ESV)
23 For the wages of sin is death,
Is God's response to our sin?
Is it wrath anger damnation
Is he God could instantly vaporize the entire universe. He could send every single one of us to hell and be justified
But that wasn't his response…
His response was to send his son
Just left heaven
6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Jesus took the lowest position he could
Took on the punishment that we deserved
21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Gods response to our rebellion is an invitation of salvation.
My favorite illustration of this is the story of the prodigal son
Times we Times summarize this story but today I want to read it just actually look at it Word for Word
11 And he said, “There was a man who had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that is coming to me.’ And he divided his property between them. 13 Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country, and there he squandered his property in reckless living. 14 And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. 16 And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything.
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” ’ 20 And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22 But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. 23 And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. 24 For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.
We repent and believe this is the reality our father has open arms every single time.
The love of God is unwavering, unchanging, and steadfast.
We do not have to earn the love of God because we don't deserve it and we can't turn it.
But we can except it, and let it change of us overwhelm us
lets look back at our passage
14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
He died for you and me…
Knowing our history, knowing our sin, knowing our future, he still died for you and I…
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
I want you to think about your history to think about your sin and realize that Jesus saw that and still chose to die for you because he loved you that much
This love from Christ, or of Christ should move us to a love for Christ
You and I want to love Jesus more we need to understand how much he loves us
You and I need to recognize how good he is to you and me
The book of Ezekiel God talks about taking the heart of stone, and turning it to a heart of flesh
Ask her believe in Jesus our heart was hard, but now it is soft, and it has been made alive
Because of that, we now have the ability to see everything that God does in our life
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
We can now recognize that every good thing comes from Jesus we can live a life full of gratitude, and love for Jesus, because of what he has done for you and I
Our greatest need is to understand the love that Jesus has for you and I
Romans 2:4 (ESV)
4 God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
Love leads us to change leads us to love for him and others and leads us away from sin
Let's look at the rest of our passage
15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
The motivation of Paul was driven by the love given by Christ
Love you and I receive from Christ is to drive us to him
Christ doesn't lead us to thinking about ourselves. It leads us to thinking about him and other
I talked about at the beginning the sweeter song, the thing that keeps us fixated and focused on Jesus, so that the world feeds away is driven by our understanding of Jesus is love
So if you find that you are struggling to love Jesus, I don't think you fully understand how much he loves you
Kipré we need to read and study the Bible his word what he says about you and I and what he has saved us from
Matthew, I want to talk to you later let's have a conversation about how we can understand the love of Christ more
We are here and you don't know jesus.
Wanna invite you to believe in him today?
Do you see Jesus at the beginning of his ministry said repent, and believe, for the kingdom of God is at hand
Intense is a change of mind it's turning 180. It's saying I am no longer going this way and I am now going this way.
Leaving is believing that Jesus died on the cross, pay the penalty for our sins so that we could be saved
9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
I don't know the Lord tonight please talk to me after please pray, and ask him for salvation
Heading back your head and close your eyes and let's pray