In Christ Week 5: It’s Not What It Looks Like

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Fill out the Easter Survey and drop it in the offering bucket as it passes

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Offering

Luke 6:38 NLT

38 Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.”

We are given biblical precedents to trust that as we bring our finances to the Lord…He blesses us in return.

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Sermon Intro

If you’re new to church we like to take a section of scripture each week and talk about how it is relevant and applicable to our daily lives.

We have been in the book of Ephesians which is a letter that a man named Paul wrote to a church in the city of Ephesus in AD 60-62 (roughly 30 years after the resurrection of Jesus)

Ephesians 2:1–10 NKJV

1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. 4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

This scripture is showing us that the resurrection of Jesus is not simply something we look back upon with admiration…(though we should)

In churches all across the world we are celebrating a historically proven event…

Jesus was a real man…

Jesus died a real death…

There were dozens of eyewitnesses who saw him alive after his death…

It’s a historically accurate and verified phenomenon

but I need us to realize that the story of Jesus is not just a historical event…

It is intended to be a lifestyle template.

We are not here today simply to celebrate what happened…We are here to see it happen again

With that in mind I want to preach to you today on this concept: It’s Not What It Looks Like

Let’s Pray (KEYS OUT)

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Opening Story: THE WORST ICE CREAM EVERY

My brother was my youth pastor for the summer of 2003.

Early 2000’s youth ministry consisted of I kissed dating goodbye and nasty food choices.

Blended happy meals

Coke through socks

But I specifically remember one night my brother pulled an illustrative prank that still grosses me out.

He got a tub of ice cream…emptied the ice cream and filled it with Mayonaisse

He posed it as a trivia game and the winner got to eat an ice cream sunday

One unsuspecting kid won and took a huge bite of what looked like ice cream…

Only to quickly need a trash can.

The prank was so effective because on the surface it looked great…but in actuality it was not what it seemed.

Something can look great on the surface…but in reality be very different on the inside.

It’s not what it looks like.

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The pivot of humanity

This text gives us an interesting contextual truth…

Our natural tendency and propensity towards sin…. starts us at death…

In original creation…man was born into life…a life with purpose (dominion and authority)

They chose to forfeit this life by choosing to disobey God (they chose sin)

They had invited sin into creation…as a result death was a part of life.

They didn’t die the moment they sinned…but they began progressing towards it.

So the progression of the first Adam was life -> sin -> death

Romans 6:23 NKJV

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

But because of Adam and Eve’s mismanagement of life…we start at a different place…

Romans 5:12 NLT

12 When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.

Adam was the one by whom we were granted our nature…Because Adam forfeited life via sin…death is our starting point.

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1. You’re Not Struggling…You’re Dead

Death is not in our future…death is where we start..

Ephesians 2:1 NKJV

1 And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins,

The cross is a picture of death…a picture of where we start.

________ This is the real problem

This vastly simplifies and clarifies the plight of the human condition.

We often become frustrated with the cycles of defeat that we find ourselves in.

I’m going to do better…I don’t

I’m not going to drink so much…I binge after a long day

I’m going to stop sleeping around…We end up in the same bed

I’m going to keep my screens pure…We end up on the same sites…

Let me make a freeing statement to you..

You don’t have a behavior problem…you have a death problem.

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Denying our death

Many of us are dead but in denial.

We do our best to distract our self from our death by all sorts of activity that tricks us into thinking we’re living.

Financial betterment

Relationships

Sexual exploration

Friendships

Entertainment

Many people are unwilling to admit that they are spiritually dead because they have become very proficient at distracting themselves.

One of the greatest things that can happen to you on this easter Sunday is for you to get a revelation of how dead you are apart from Christ.

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What a dead life looks like

Paul goes on to tell us what it looks like to be dead.

Ephesians 2:2–3 NKJV

2 in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3 among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.

Our culture tells us to live however you want to.

Follow every propensity

Pursue whatever feels good…regardless of how it effects others

Satisfy your flesh and submit to your desires

After all…everyone is doing it

But scripture tells us that this is the lifestyle of death.

________ Paul goes further

That may seem harsh but Paul goes even farther in his assessment…

Paul claims that a lifestyle that is submitted to fleshly pursuits is a lifestyle that is “obeying the devil.”

Ephesians 2:2 NLT

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.

The reality is this…there are not a variety of sources to submit to…

We either obey God

Or we obey the devil…

This polarization is necessary for you and I to come to grips with because it makes total commitment to truth essential.

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The gospel is not a compromise…it’s a surrender

There has for years been a tendency within the churches across our nation to try and create a version of the gospel that is more palatable.

My hope today is not to make you feel a little more attracted to Jesus while you maintain a lifestyle that is in direct opposition to what he asks.

My goal is to call you into a revelation of who you’re obeying…

My goal is to call you out of your sin and into His grace.

TR TO NEXT VERSE: Paul lets us know that this confrontation of the gospel is not an act of rage or discrimination.

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Who he loves…he confronts

Ephesians 2:4 NLT

4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much,

If God didn’t love you…He’d leave you alone…but He loves you.

How does he love us?…He confronts us with our sin.

If my child has a peanut allergy but loves the taste of peanut butter…is it cruel for me to tell them to throw the peanut butter away?

No matter how much we love our sin…God loves us so much that he calls us out of what is killing us.

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Realizing I’m dead is the key to finding life.

We are in the condition of death…convinced we are alive…deceived…

So how do we change that?

The paradox of the gospel is that the way we shift from death to life…is by admitting our death...

God gives us the opportunity once we are willing to admit our plight…to experience his grace.

Philippians 3:10 NKJV

10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,

When I am willing to admit the fact that I am dead in my trespasses and sins…I am in essence coming into conformity with his death.

When I come into conformity with his death…I am eligible to experience the power of his resurrection.

That is ultimately what today is about…

We celebrate the resurrection of Jesus because the resurrection of Jesus avails the resurrection of me!

I come into conformity with his death by understanding that there is nothing I can do to save myself.

______ This is not an easy surrender

I’m not going to pretend that this is an easy message to receive…

There is an element of uncertainty to this realization.

We are a people who value and pursue self sufficiency

We want to be able to provide for ourselves…need nothing from nobody

But I would ask…how has that been working out?

Has your self sufficiency been producing the fulfillment you’re looking for?

The relationships

The money

The promotions

The truth I am presenting in this message is incredibly frustrating as Americans… but I also believe it can be incredibly freeing…you don’t have to try harder to find new life…

The key to coming into new life with Christ is not trying harder…It’s surrendering completely.

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3. You don’t fix you…He raises you

Ephesians 2:5–7 NKJV

5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

There is nothing we can do to be made alive.

My good deeds don’t change the fact that I’m dead

My big donations don’t change the fact that I’m dead

No amount of degrees, certifications, net worth, or square footage changes the fact that I’m dead

But when I surrender to Jesus…HE MAKES ME ALIVE!

It is grace that saves me…nothing else.

Grace: Charis = Divine empowerment

We don’t become alive by trying harder…We become alive by surrendering completely.

There’s nothing I can do to be made alive…but there’s nothing I have done that will keep him from making me alive.

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4. We Were Raised on Purpose

I’m saved to serve…

The fact that God changes us from death to life is so that we can go and let others know that they don’t have to stay dead.

If you have been raised to life by Jesus…the purpose of your life is simple…tell others about the new life that you have found in Christ.

We exist to show the riches of his kindness to the world around us.

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Ephesians 2:8–10 NKJV

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.

KEYS OUT

There’s nothing I can do to be saved…and the good news is what needs to be done already has.

If you feel like this might be for everyone else but you…

Paul lets us know that we have been chosen in Christ.

You are not excluded from that choosing.

If no one else has every chosen you..

If your parents said you were an accident

If your spouse cheated on you

if your friends betrayed you

YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN BY GOD BEFORE TIME BEGAN!

_______ Quick Recap

We are all dead in our trespasses and sin…

When we admit that we are made alive in Christ by God’s grace…

This is for the purpose of seeing the entire world find this new life!

YOU ARE CHOSEN.

Jesus is a pivot point because he lived his life to arrive at this inevitability called death…in order to change the narrative.

The beauty of the resurrection is that Jesus didn’t stay dead so we don’t have to either.

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Closing

John Newton was not just a sinner.

He was a slave trader.

He spent years capturing and transporting human beings across the Atlantic— chained, abused, treated like cargo.

He knew it was wrong…but he kept doing it anyway.

Because sin numbs you. It convinces you you’re still alive while you’re actually dead.

One night in 1748, Newton was on a ship in the middle of the Atlantic when a violent storm hit.

The waves were so massive they thought the ship was going down.

Water flooding in.

Wood splitting.

Men screaming.

And in that moment…A man who had spent his life profiting off death realized something:

“I am about to die…and I am not ready to meet God.”

For the first time in his life, he didn’t try to fix himself….He didn’t promise to do better….He didn’t negotiate.

He cried out for mercy.

“God…have mercy on me.”

The storm didn’t stop instantly…But something in him changed instantly.

That moment became what he later called…“the hour I first believed.”

Years later, reflecting on that night, he wrote these words:

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me… I once was lost, but now am found, was blind… but now I see.”

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Application

“Here’s what I need you to see…”

John Newton didn’t need a self-help plan.

He didn’t need better habits.

He didn’t need accountability.

He needed resurrection.

And that is the condition of many in this room today…

You’ve been managing your life…

adjusting your behavior…

trying to be better…

But if you’re honest…You’re still empty….Still stuck…Still miserable.

Because you don’t have a behavior problem…You have a death problem.

And just like that night that a storm exposed Newton…

I believe the Holy Spirit is exposing some things in this room right now.

Not to shame you…

But to save you.