One Life: Reconcile It (3)
Notes
Transcript
Sermon Tone Analysis
A
D
F
J
S
Emotion
A
C
T
Language
O
C
E
A
E
Social
Live It Well - Switchfoot Music Video
Volunteer Night
Opening Prayer
Thank you to everyone who preached (Donnie, Jeff, Sue, Ron).
New Series: One Life
[TITLE SLIDE]
Introduction
Introduction
Our Happy, Peaceful Lives
Most of us want to live happy, worry-free, harmony, friendships for the long-term.
Today, you have one life. Reconcile it. It needs to be reconciled.
Same friends from grade school to Graystone. Same spouse from the honeymoon to the nursing home.
Same
Relationships in harmony
Do you want to live happy and
Relationships in harmony - always happy, idealized “Leave it to Beaver” family life. Life isn’t like that is it?
Our Realistic Lives
Kinsley and I dated for 11 months, engaged for 3 months. Whole package. Buy the ring, Guy.
Honeymoon to home. Kitchen is yours.
Relationships take work. Effort. Humility.
Relationships take work. Effort. Humility.
Every now and again I need to do something that’s difficult: Admit I’m in the wrong and ask forgiveness.
The word is reconcile. To maintain a happy, healthy, harmony-filled friendship with my spouse, every so often, I need to reconcile.
Reconciliation to God
Reconciliation to God
Reconciliation to God
Reconciliation to God
Reconciliation: Restoration of friendly relationships and of peace where before there had been hostility and alienation.
Today’s take away is you have One Life - Reconcile it to God.
[SLIDES until TITLE]
Why we need to reconcile to God
Why we need to reconcile to God
On account of our sins we are alienated from God. Broken relationship.
“It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.”
On account of our sins we are alienated from God. Broken relationship.
“It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.”
God only hears the prayers of his children.
It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.
New Living Translation Chapter 59
It’s your sins that have cut you off from God.
Because of your sins, he has turned away
and will not listen anymore.
- kicked out of the garden for sin. - Cain alienated from God for sin.
Sin separates - - kicked out of the garden for sin. - Cain alienated from God for sin.
Sin separates until we reconcile.
God initiates reconciliation through Jesus Christ
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
“This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”
“This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”
The Availability of Reconciliation
God set into motion the ‘Ministry of Reconciliation’
The Advantages of Reconciliation
Peace with God
“Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.”
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
Access to God
“Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.”
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
Made Right with God
“For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”
Tyndale House Publishers. (2013). Holy Bible: New Living Translation (). Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Jesus died as a substitute for us.
He and the sinner changed places on the cross - He suffered pain and agony we should have suffered.
He was God and man in one person, that God and man might be happy together again. - George Whitefield
[SLIDE] He was God and man in one person, that God and man might be happy together again. - George Whitefield (18th century preacher)
New Living Translation Chapter 1
19 For God in all his fullness
was pleased to live in Christ,
20 and through him God reconciled
everything to himself.
He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth
by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.
21 This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. 22 Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.
23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News.
Take advantage of the reconciliation God and Christ have made possible so you can live at peace with God.
Opening Story of Reconciliation...
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;
that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation.
That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.
Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God.”
He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.
But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.
For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?
God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
When one of you has a grievance against another, does he dare go to law before the unrighteous instead of the saints?
Or do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if the world is to be judged by you, are you incompetent to try trivial cases?
All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too.
Are we commending ourselves to you again? No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart.
If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit.
Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.
He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.
So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now!
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.
As God’s partners, we beg you not to accept this marvelous gift of God’s kindness and then ignore it.
For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation.
Title
It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.
This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
He was God and man in one person, that God and man might be happy together again. - George Whitefiel