Sermon 19 How To Change

Announcement

Steak and Shake July 14th

Game Night Friday July 19

Ladies Fiber Arts 7/26 6 PM

July 19th Training Meeting For Youth Ministry - Bee Ridge Students

Tasty Home Cooking 7/15 12 PM

Pasta With the pastor coming soon!

Gideon Missionary to Nepal 6 PM tonight!

Call to worship

Say: Let us now begin to worship the Father the Son, the Holy Spirit, Our Call to worship Comes to us from

Psalm 15 ESV

A Psalm of David. 1 O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? 2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; 3 who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; 4 in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; 5 who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.

Introduction

So last week we talked about how you can change, how because of Jesus, you can grab onto him and be changed because he first grabbed you! Do you hunger to be more then you are? The thing about Being a Christian is that as you follow Christ more closely the more you become who you really are, who God meant to be a along. To put it another way the closer you are to Jesus the redeemer the more you are redeemed.

You can be more by him who made you and bought you back to himself by his own blood.

You can see your life change, your family change, your work change IF you follow the redeemer closely.

Text

Philippians 3:12–16 ESV

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. 13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. 16 Only let us hold true to what we have attained.

Layout of the text

Center point today, the Big idea

Jesus has made a way for you to change

SAY THE FOLLOWING:

I'm going to show you 4 Things you need to Change as a Christian

1) Change takes Awareness

Philippians 3:12 ESV

12 Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect,

John Mac said this

Philippians: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary Pursuing the Prize Requires a Proper Awareness

All that believers are now in Christ and will enjoy forever in heaven is eternally fixed by God’s gracious purpose (cf.

Paul Knew he hadn’t grabbed onto Christ perfectly and that he wanted more.

He wanted a better grip on his Lord, he wanted to hold him closer.

Application:

Awareness leads you to in this life to see your sins. Are you aware of the to be redeemed parts of your life? Do you think you’ve made it.

The World teaches accept me as I am, Jesus teaches that he in only just beginning with us!

2) Change takes All your Effort

Philippians 3:12 ESV

but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.

Do you catch this “I press on?”

Paul was a sports fan if you read the Bible. If you know anything about sports, you can’t just pick up a ball and be good, even if you were born with some talent, a natural, you will find that the very best still need to train and practice, still seek to be better.

They pursue, they press on to achieve for example the average NFL player, these are those that have made it to the professional level, work about 8-10 hours a day in season.

Application:

Do you put in the effort? Paul says this to Timothy

2 Timothy 2:22 ESV

22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

Are you putting in the effort to do those things?

Listen to the last part, “along with those who call on the Lord” we press on together, you can’t do it alone.

Have you seen the Norway soccer team fans? They row together. You must press on, and God is having you do it with others, in your family, in our church.

put in the effort.

3) Changes Takes Concentration

Philippians 3:13 ESV

13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,

Where are your eyes focused? I was taking a shotting class with a few of my friends and after I’d get a good grouping, or one of my friends did We’d shot the others target, purposely outside his grouping just to hurt each others score.

I was focusing on their target and hitting my mark.

When you’re doing something it is easy to get distracted.

Application:

Let me ask this Christian, are you distracted?

When you throw a ball it goes where your eyes are looking, when you shot a gun it follows your vision.

Maybe you're doing to much, maybe your making things that you should enjoy into things that are bigger then they should be.

I have never met a senior Christian who said “I wish I watched more TV!”

Will you say in the future “ I wish I hadn’t been on my phone as much!”

Maybe your distraction is you keep looking at your forgiven sin.

Let me put your heart at ease

John 8:36 ESV

36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.

You are free from that, forgiven, so look forward. The devil throughs your sins at your face, remind him that you have been forgiven.

Keep your eyes on Christ in front of you.

4) Change Needs a Motivation

Philippians 3:14 ESV

14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Most people won’t do something just because, they need a reason. You hear men signing up for the military and often the reason is, to protect my family, my country, it something that the men in my family do, and so on. These things are tangible reasons.

Missionaries go because they feel called of God to share the gospel of life to those around them.

Jesus is the fuel for your change. You can actually do it, God is on your side.

I want to be more like Jesus, I want to love my family like him, I want to know him more, I want my work to mater more, I want my kids, my grandkids to know him more.

(Give the gospel) GOd Will Reveal it to you, your need for the gospel (v15)

The Holy PSirit MAke this happen and Empowers you to do it.

DO You want this?

Benediction

Say: As we close our service of worship dear brother and sister please stand for our benediction and receive by faith this blessing from God

Numbers 6:24–26 ESV

24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.