Let’s BECOME who We are Meant to be IN CHRIST. (Word of the Year)

Intro:

Today is the first Sunday of 2024…

And for the past two years, we have adopted a word for each year…

And thone words have come from John 1:12

John 1:12 NKJV

12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

I. We have been on a journey from RECEIVING, to BELIEVING, and now we come to BECOMING. (John 1:12)

In 2022, We adopted the word RECEIVE

We looked near the end of the Gospel of John where it says that “Jesus breathed on them, and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.”

And we sought this out as our request all that year…

Lord, Help us RECEIVE the Holy Spirit in a special and unique way!

We started special “IN HIS PRESENCE” prayer gatherings on Sunday Nights

Where we simply asked that we would receive God and the fullness of His grace!

We adopted a song talking about RECEIVING the Lord and His blessings!

And there was no doubt that God had been faithful to this request!

We had indeed RECEIVED!!!

LAST YEAR.....we adopted the word BELIEVE for 2023.

Our request was….

That God would give us bold and confident Belief in Him!

That we would say....I Believe, Help my unbelief.

That we would Believe God’s Word over anything and everything else!

And again, we saw God’s faithful answer to this request

We finished our church reading plan that we had started two years prior…

And on Wednesday Nights, we went all the way through the Bible together from Genesis to Revelation.

Talking about BELIEVING.

I have seen so many aha Holy Spirit lightbulb moments as we have walked through Scripture!

I have seen us grow in our Belief as we have read His word!

We have seen God give a calling into His work and we have seen those BELIEVE God and walk in obedience!

We have seen sweet sweet baptisms celebrating BELIEF!

We have watch God test our faith and we have said….WE TRUST YOU GOD….WE Believe!

We have sung not only from our lips, but our souls have sung…..

I believe I believe I believe

As I bow before you Lord,

I will rise in confidence.

I will see your goodness Lord

in the land that I’m living in

No matter where I go

And no matter where Ive been,

‘I will see your goodness Lord

in the land that I’m living in.

‘I believe I believe I believe

Now this year….our word is BECOME!!

I’m asking you to join me in requesting that God would help us BECOME all that we are meant to be in Christ this year!

That we would become even more serious in our walk with Christ this Year.

That we would become even more sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

That we would become deeper and more rooted in our love for Christ.

That we would become even more of a city on a hill!

That we would become even more of a place that would show hope to the hopeless

That we would become even more of a place that would show love to the unlovable.

That we would become a church that fulfills its mission of being disciples who make disciples

Wouldn't this be amazing Church!

Let’s Become all that we are meant to be in Christ!

John 1:12 NKJV

But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

Becoming who we are meant to be starts with simply BEING A Child of God!

But there is a Foundational truth for us here on the onset of our Word Become!

II. BECOMING is a work of God. (John 1:1-18)

John 1:12–13 NKJV

12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

This is a work that is only possible through Christ.

Becoming a Child of God means being Born Again…more to come on this in Chapter 3.

But this birth is a miraculous birth….it’s a birth that requires resurrection…to be brought from Death to Life!

And John makes it clear that this work….is not a work of blood nor of the will of the flesh.

Becoming a Child of God is a Spiritual work…not a Physical work!

This doesn’t mean that the physical is bad or that it doesn’t affect us physically…

However, this is through and through a Spiritual Work!

John goes further to say that this work is not the will of man, but of God!

This reminds us that Salvation is more of an INTERVENTION OF GOD rather than the INTENTION OF MAN!

Not of the will of man, but of God!

This means that BECOMING is exactly what it states….

IT IS OF GOD!

Not of your Family

Not of your Sincerity

Not of your Effort!

Its so important to see what John is saying here….

If we will ever BECOME WHO WE ARE MEANT TO BE IN CHRIST….we must understand that it will literally take a WORK of God!

A work you cannot do on your own!

A great illustration of this is adoption….and that is why we see this illustration in the Bible.

Think of Jaci and Jayla with me…

They were in a hopeless situation…something they themself old do nothing about.

No desire of their own could have lead them to this family…

Someone outside of them chose to love them

And now they will take on our family name…

They will have all the benefits of being our child…

They will receive…

Our love…knowing we will never leave them

Our instruction…desiring the best for them

Our inheritance…receiving all that we have

This is how it is with Christ…

He does something we could not do ourselves…

He chose to love us….and we receive….

His love…knowing He will never leave us

His instruction…as He desires the best for us

His Inheritance…receiving what only Christ deserves.

THE ORDER IS IMPORTANT…

It is not that we choose this work of becoming and then God responds….

NO….God Chooses this work of becoming….and then we

This should Exalt God and keep us humble…

It also reminds us of where the true power comes!

So what is this BECOMING WORK OF GOD?

This is a work that has been established from the BEGINNING OF TIME. (John 1:1-3)

John 1:1–3 NKJV

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.

This Becoming Work of God has been an active work since the beginning!

It brought the World into existence.

It has been active throughout the history of the World.

It is active now as we wait for the Church to continue to be adorned as a Bride for her husband.

This is a work of LIFE and LIGHT. (John 1:4-11)

John 1:4–11 NKJV

4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. 6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.

This becoming work is one that brings life….and that life is LIGHT in the darkness.

The presence of Jesus is a bright light that radiates into a dark world.

I saw this so clearly as a 12 year old boy.

My world was very dark….

And then I saw the presence of Christ and I would come to know this Becoming Work!

1 Peter 2:9 NKJV

9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

This is a work of life and light

This work is a RIGHT that HE has GIVEN to us.(John 1:12-13)

John 1:12–13 NKJV

12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

We already saw that this is a work OF GOD and that it is given By God!

But I also want us to see that it is A RIGHT that is given…

When I think of rights….i think of the Bill of Rights…the first 10 amendments to the constitution of the United States

RIGHTS TO Freedom of religion, speech, the press, assembly, and to petition the government

Th RGHT to bear arms and so on

We take it very serious in knowing these are our Rights….

If you are born a citizen or become a citizen of US, then you have these rights given to you.

Well if you are born again in Christ…..then you are given the right to Become A Child of God!

This work is a RIGHT given to us.

This is a GLORIOUS work filled with GRACE and TRUTH (John 1:14-15)

John 1:14–15 NKJV

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”

This a work where we get to BEHOLD God’s GLORY

And the way we get to do this is to see the fullness of His GRACE and TRUTH.

Think about it…..aren’t these the two things we really want in life….Grace and Truth!

This is a work of DECLARATION. (John 1:16-18)

John 1:16–18 NKJV

16 And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

In Receiving all of His fullness, and believing in His name, we Become Children of God….

And in this, we join Christ Becoming Work of DECLARING THE FATHER to the world!

III. This Work of BECOMING CONTINUES! (Colossians 2:6-7)

The work is not finished when we become Children of God!

Could you imagine if parenting ended at birth….

Well, we had you….you’re breathing….you have my name….but that’s it…my job is done

Are you kidding me…..Think of all the continual work….

All the feeding that Comes….

And it seems like for the first 6 months, you’re just trying to keep the kid alive

And then comes crawling…and walking…and talking

And potty training

And then there's Teaching manners, empathy, and respect.

THE WORK CONTINUES

So it is with us in Christ….

God does a work in us as where we are born again and become a child of God.

However, This Becoming work continues…

‘As we become more and more IN CHRIST!

And so this year we are desiring to see God continue this work in us!

Song: New Name Written Down in Glory

Going to be special next week.

Theres a new name written down in Glory

And it’s min, yes, it’s mine

I’ve met the author of my story

And He’s min, yes, he’s mine

I am who I am because the I AM tells me who I am.

Gospel of John…. #BECOME

Let’s Become all that we are meant to be IN CHRIST!

Become Classes on Wednesdays

I am very Excited about these intentional classes this year!

Become People of the Word… “Read Scripture”

This has been such a blessing already in my family!

Not too late to start.

Become involved in SAP Discipleship

Sprouts, Abiders, Planters.

Colossians 2:6–7 NKJV

6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

Conclusion:

As we think about Becoming… I want to ask you some questions…. (Eyes closed with music only)

What have you become over the last 2 years?…

Closer with Christ or Further from Christ

Thanksgiving or Repentance

What do you desire to Become this year?

Become a better spouse, parent, sibling, or son or daughter?

All of those start with becoming built up and rooted in Christ.

THIS IS A WORK OF GOD!

Perhaps you need to become adopted into the family of God?

Or maybe you need to join the corporate body here and see that our Church would become what God is calling it to be!

Would you Respond today!

Let’s Become Who We are Meant to Be In CHRIST!