Untitled Sermon (8)

Intro

The famous explorer Marco Polo after completing his journeys went back to his home in Venice. When he got back to his home he began to describe some of the things he had seen. But his close friends thought he had gone mad. He told then about black stones that you could actually set on fire and they would provide heat for you. But they could not imagine what he was talking about .... they had never heard of charcoal. He told them about a piece of cloth that as hard as he tried he could not set it on fire. But they could not imagine what he was talking about ... they had never heard of asbestos. He told them about large animals that were almost 20 feet long. Had jaws large enough to swallow a man but they could not imagine what he was talking about .. they had never seen a crocodile. Then he told them of a substance that came spewing out of the ground that if you lit it, it would catch on fire and actually provide light but they could not imagine because they had never heard of crude oil.

Years later when Marco Polo was lying on his death bed one of the few men who actually believed him was there and he said tell me all of those stories again. I want to hear them again. But he refused and simply said it’s all true ... every bit of it. In fact, I have not told you half of what I saw.

In AD 90 John the apostle was sent to an island called Patmos. He was sent as punishment to live in isolation because of his witness for Christ. It was while he was there that he was given a vision and he wrote down the book of believe if John could speak to us today that he would tell us that he has not told us half of what he saw.

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A few weeks ago we began this theme of playing in the dirt by studying - The creation of all things. Today we read the bookend of that passage; the renewal of all things.

imagine this today, friends. As beautiful as the world is, as breathtaking as it can be to step outside and see the glory of creation- this is not what will survive in eternity- because everything in this world has been tainted by sin. EVERYTHING

So, as the passage today says, God will make all things new, and His Glory will be the center of it all.

Renewal is a Foundation Concept of the Christian Faith

Without renewal we are helpless. The best part of the renewal of all things in is that it is an affirmation and a mirror of the renewal that each of us go through as followers of Christ.

We are Renewed by Confession

& 16

This renewal is about our standing before God

This is a REBIRTH and a Starting point- until you are renewed this way you cannot be renewed in any other way.

This is a REBIRTH and a Starting point- until you are renewed this way you cannot be renewed in any other way.

Trying to do any of the others is like putting carpet down when the floor joists are rotten

We are Renewed in Baptism

Romans 6:4

This should follow our first renewal

This renewal renews our way of being in the world

An outward sign of an inward transformation

We are Renewed by engaging the Scripture

Mucclasse Indians. Once each year, they had a village clean up called a "busk." First they would make new clothes for themselves as well as furniture and cooking utensils. They would keep all of these new things in a building outside of the village. When everything was ready, they would begin their annual spring cleaning.Every corner of every house was scrubbed. Every stick of furniture was thrown out. Every child's toy went to the garbage heap. The dirt paths were swept, and the weeds were plucked up. Even the food left over from winter was thrown out. All of the refuse in the village was gathered together into a pile in the center of the village. Then the chief set it on fire. As they watched it burn, they took off their clothes and tossed them into the fire as well. They tended the fire carefully and made sure that every last piece of garbage was burned.On the fourth morning, they washed and bathed, and dressed in their new clothes. They then gathered again at the heart of the village. The chief started a new fire and from the flames each family took burning sticks home to start their own fires. The old was gone, life was beginning again!

Every corner of every house was scrubbed. Every stick of furniture was thrown out. Every child's toy went to the garbage heap. The dirt paths were swept, and the weeds were plucked up. Even the food left over from winter was thrown out. All of the refuse in the village was gathered together into a pile in the center of the village. Then the chief set it on fire. As they watched it burn, they took off their clothes and tossed them into the fire as well. They tended the fire carefully and made sure that every last piece of garbage was burned.

On the fourth morning, they washed and bathed, and dressed in their new clothes. They then gathered again at the heart of the village. The chief started a new fire and from the flames each family took burning sticks home to start their own fires. The old was gone, life was beginning again!

Many times we think we need a rededication at the altar, but we just need to rededicate ourselves to the WORD OF GOD

We are Renewed by the H/S

WE HAVE TO ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN

Like trying to lay a foundation by using just water with no mortar mix

This takes TIME

This is the connection between our regeneration and the promise of