Untitled Sermon (2)

Overcoming Addictions in Christ. My Identity Matters, (Week 3)

A. Who are you?

1. Does your past, especially mistakes, influence who you see yourself as being?

a) Do you identify yourself as an addict or a recovering addict?

b) Do you find that helpful and hopeful if you see yourself as an addict or recovering addict? (Why or why not?)

2. Identifying yourself by your addiction is a common strategy in addiction recovery.

a) The idea behind it is to encourage people not to deny they have a problem.

· We need to admit we have a problem before we’re interested in a solution.

· In many group meetings, people are encouraged to weekly stand up and say, "Hi, I'm _____________, and I'm an alcoholic." ***The Bible has a better way.

B. Who God says you are.

1. The 66 books of the Bible are God's revelation of Himself to His creation.

a) That's important because we can't know Him if God doesn't reveal Himself.

· God is supernatural, and we're not, so anything we come up with about Him will be incorrect.

· The Bible says, "all have sinned" (Romans 3:23), and the sin inside us makes it impossible to know God rightly unless He reveals Himself to us.

2. God introduces Himself in Genesis 1:1 very matter-of-factly.

a) God created. <Genesis 1:1>

b) The Bible methodically describes God creating everything. (Genesis 1:1-25)

· God willed everything into existence.

3. God's special creation. (Genesis 1:26-31, 2:7)

a) The only thing in all of God's creation made in His image. <Genesis 1:26-27>

b) God demonstrates how unique His image-bearers are. (Genesis 1:28-31)

· God gave people charge over His creation.

c) Notice how personal it was as God created His first image-bearers. <Genesis 2:7>

· You must get down into the dust to make the man out of the dust.

· God Himself breathed life into His image-bearer.

o Don't miss how the whole narrative has slowed down.

o God is trying to draw our attention to what He's doing.

4. Being made in the image of God is what makes you so special.

a) Since childhood, aren’t there standards that you learned to measure yourself by?

· What you look like.

· How much money do you and your family have?

· How much education do you have?

· What is your career?

b) So often, these arbitrary standards are what we feel we must live up to.

c) God says the most significant thing about you is that you were created in His image.

· Your worth and dignity as a human being is measured only by the fact that you're created in God's image.

C. Jesus died for God's image-bearers.

1. You can be set free from the penalty of sin and the bondage of addiction because of Jesus' death and resurrection.

a) Jesus gave His life as a sacrifice because God loves the world. (John 3:16)

b) If you repent of your sin and believe Jesus according to the Bible, God will forgive you of sin and make you His child. (John 1:12)

· You will be set free from enslavement to your sin. <Romans 6:5-7>

c) The Bible also tells us that God's Holy Spirit will indwell you as a Christian. <Romans 8:9>

· This means the power and presence of God are in you to help you worship God and become like Jesus.

· The Holy Spirit will also empower you to overcome addiction.

2. God may choose to take your desire for your addiction away.

· However, He usually allows people to learn to have faith in him through a process.

a) This process is called discipleship.

· Each week, you'll be discipled in our meetings and complete the assignments and faithful participation in the church.

· You can be sure that God will help you overcome addiction, but there are things you need to do.

· In addition to what I've already mentioned, it's essential to also:

o Continually say no to your addiction. To do this, pray and ask God to help you. You're learning how to trust God; part of learning is practice.

o Stay away from the temptation to use. This includes people, places, and things.

o Don't leave tonight without an accountability partner. Stay in contact with this person.

Five Keys to Overcoming Addictions in Christ this week:

1. What to pray:Dear God, please help me value being created in Your image. There are so many things that I have measured myself by, but none of them truly made me feel content. I ask that You help me be content and filled with joy to know that no matter what’s in my past, I still have dignity and worth because You created me.

2. What to remember: You are created in God’s image, and that makes you unique and valuable.

3. What to memorize: Genesis 1:27; answer: How does this apply to your life?

4. What to study: Romans 6. Study to understand what Paul has to say about being set free from the bondage and enslavement to sin when you are united with Christ.

5. What to do: To fully understand being created in the image of God, you need to know the greatness of God. This week, study Isaiah 40:9-26 and write down 20 things from that passage that talk about the greatness of God. Then, on the same paper, using the 20 observations you made, write a paragraph of praise to God for His greatness. Use what you wrote in your prayer time to praise God and bring what you wrote next week and be prepared to share it with the group.