Untitled Sermon (2)

Made New

Today’s message is not a gotcha message. It is an orientation message. As in let’s make sure we know what our pursuit is and where we are going on this first Sunday of the New Year. I can guarantee you that many pastors around the country this morning are preaching a new year, new you sermon, and if that’s what you need in your life by all means, make this a new beginning for you, but I think it would be foolish for me to do anything other than begin this new year with a loud call to join God in accomplishing his will through you.

Let’s break ground this year. Let’s go and do things we’ve never done before. Let’s lose weight. Let’s make more family time. Let’s accomplish good things, but let’s not forget why we are here.

“Many of us are hunting mice, while lions devour the land”.-Leonard Ravenhill

We cannot afford to be narrow sited. We are in a high stakes game and our participation in it matters.

Let’s break ground this year. Let’s go and do things we’ve never done before.

Open your Bibles to

God doesn’t exist to make you great. You exist to make him

Preceding where we pick up today Paul is defending his character from outsiders. There had been some type of vicious attack on Paul’s character and mental stability. Paul was not so much defending himself as he was defending his message. HE knew that his reputation had an effect on how the Gospel was heard.

Read 14-15 Paul mentions “The love of Christ controls us”, because he is referencing his criticized behavior. HE is acting the way he does because Christ died for Him, and those that are in Christ have died to their old way of life.

Emphasize and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

Let’s think about baptism to remind us what Paul is speaking of here when we refers to our death.

Baptism isn’t a sacrament. “Something that imparts salvation” Baptism can’t save you.

It is not a blessing. It is not a rite of passage.

Baptism is symbolic of our death.

We have

See

The words that are generally used, we could probably all repeat.

“I Baptize you so and so, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Buried with Him in Baptism and raised to walk in a newness of life”.

Baptism is symbolic of our death.As HE died, we die. () For I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

When Christ died he was buried and when we die with Him our old self is buried.

As HE died, we die. () For I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

When we are brought up out of the water we are “Raised to walk in a newness of life” that is symbolic of the resurrection.

When we confess and believe and follow Christ we are made new.

As he was

Vs 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation. The old has passed away and the new has come.

But here is a critical juncture, because although we have new spiritual life we are constantly being pulled at from the world. We are constantly tempted by selfishness, lust, greed, emotions, pride, and all other kinds of sin causing death, and we find ourselves at times slipping, and we find our old nature calling out to us.

So what do we say when we find ourselves slipping into the fruits of the old self?(, , 8)

The very thing I hate that thing I do, and the thing that I want to do I don’t.

Have you ever noticed that you seem to get a lot of opportunities to get better at the things your no good at? HOw are you going to deal with that this year.

Vs 17 -We, those in Christ are new creations. Other people too can be new creations.

è Let’s not forget that the bedrock of our existence comes from the fact that God is the Creator. Therefore, when we pray, pray to a God who can create. Submit creative petitions. Not only in repentance as David did when he Prayed “Create in me a clean heart”, but things like “Create new life in my marriage” Create new passion in my parenting” “Create a God honoring drive within me to die to me and live to you!” We can’t forget that God is the Creator.

Vs 18-19 Through that creation of new life within us, we are reconciled to join God in the reconciliation of Mankind.

We are given the ministry of reconciliation.

We have been ENTRUSTED with the message of reconciliation.

Ravenhill-We are at an all time high in church attendance and an all time low in spirituality.

Cooper pick up your toys.

Cooper can you help me work in the garage? Yeah daddy let’s go!->now imagine yourself a parent entrusting a hammer to a 5 year old to build a bird house and you volunteer to hold the nail, and you give the hammer to your 5 year old and say “Here son, I’ll hold this and you swing the hammer to drive the nail” That seems like a dangerous proposition for the dad, but think about the joy of the child to just be included in a meaningful task. To them it is exhilarating to just be by daddy and to be doing the work.

How excited are we that God has invited us to swing the hammer while he holds the nail?

Leanoard Ravenhill-Get unction

Vs 20 ambassadors

21 The Gospel