Hello my name is alive
Notes
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Sermon Tone Analysis
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Jab 1
Jab 1
Rewards points. Free VR. Super exciting. Gathering dust.
Jab 2
Jab 2
Guitar
Jab 3
Jab 3
His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.
A dusty faith? Or one that gets used?
Transition
Transition
And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
So if that is what we were…what are we now? If we are something different, why and what for? Remembering our past is most valuable when we look forward to where it has lead us.
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But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:
Let’s pray.
A Gift of Mercy and Love
A Gift of Mercy and Love
a nineteen-year-old private in the London Rifle Brigade, wrote to his mother on Boxing Day:
Dear Mother, I am writing from the trenches. It is 11 o'clock in the morning. Beside me is a coke fire, opposite me a 'dug-out' (wet) with straw in it. The ground is sloppy in the actual trench, but frozen elsewhere. In my mouth is a pipe presented by the Princess Mary. In the pipe is tobacco. Of course, you say. But wait. In the pipe is German tobacco. Haha, you say, from a prisoner or found in a captured trench. Oh dear, no! From a German soldier. Yes a live German soldier from his own trench. Yesterday the British & Germans met & shook hands in the Ground between the trenches, & exchanged souvenirs, & shook hands. Yes, all day Xmas day, & as I write. Marvellous, isn't it?[22]
Bruce Bairnsfather, who served throughout the war, wrote:
I wouldn't have missed that unique and weird Christmas Day for anything.... I spotted a German officer, some sort of lieutenant I should think, and being a bit of a collector, I intimated to him that I had taken a fancy to some of his buttons.... I brought out my wire clippers and, with a few deft snips, removed a couple of his buttons and put them in my pocket. I then gave him two of mine in exchange.... The last I saw was one of my machine gunners, who was a bit of an amateur hairdresser in civil life, cutting the unnaturally long hair of a docile Boche, who was patiently kneeling on the ground whilst the automatic clippers crept up the back of his neck.
Alfred Anderson, the last known surviving Scottish veteran of the war, vividly recalled Christmas Day and said:
I remember the silence, the eerie sound of silence. Only the guards were on duty. We all went outside the farm buildings and just stood listening. And, of course, thinking of people back home. All I’d heard for two months in the trenches was the hissing, cracking and whining of bullets in flight, machinegun fire and distant German voices. But there was a dead silence that morning, right across the land as far as you could see. We shouted ‘Merry Christmas’, even though nobody felt merry. The silence ended early in the afternoon and the killing started again. It was a short peace in a terrible war.[25]
One night of mercy. 2 sides with power to kill, reason to hate, choosing to refrain.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
Mercy defined: Noun: 1. compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one’s power to punish or harm.
In the same way the British and German forces laid down arms for a night…God
A Gift of Grace
A Gift of Grace
What makes Christianity different from all the other religions of the world? Years ago that very question was discussed at a conference. Some of the participants argued that Christianity is unique in teaching that God became man. But someone objected, saying that other religions teach similar doctrines. What about the resurrection? No, it was argued, other faiths believe that the dead rise again. The discussion grew heated.
C. S. Lewis, a strong defender of Christianity, came in late, sat down, and asked, "What's the rumpus about?" When he learned that it was a debate about the uniqueness of Christianity, he immediately commented, ":Oh, that's easy. It's grace."
C. S. Lewis, a strong defender of Christianity, came in late, sat down, and asked, "What's the rumpus about?" When he learned that it was a debate about the uniqueness of Christianity, he immediately commented, ":Oh, that's easy. It's grace."
Brennan Manning tells a story about Mayor LaGuardia of New York City:
A story is told about Fiorello LaGuardia, who, when he was mayor of New York City during the worst days of the Great Depression and all of WWII, was called by adoring New Yorkers &ls;the Little Flower' because he was only five foot four and always wore a carnation in his lapel. He was a colorful character who used to ride the New York City fire trucks, raid speakeasies with the police department, take entire orphanages to baseball games, and whenever the New York newspapers were on strike, he would go on the radio and read the Sunday funnies to the kids.
One bitterly cold night in January of 1935, the mayor turned up at a night court that served the poorest ward of the city. LaGuardia dismissed the judge for the evening and took over the bench himself. Within a few minutes, a tattered old woman was brought before him, charged with stealing a loaf of bread. She told LaGuardia that her daughter's husband had deserted her, her daughter was sick, and her two grandchildren were starving. But the shopkeeper, from whom the bread was stolen, refused to drop the charges.
"It's a real bad neighborhood, your Honor." the man told the mayor. "She's got to be punished to teach other people around here a lesson." LaGuardia sighed. He turned to the woman and said "I've got to punish you. The law makes no exceptions&md;ten dollars or ten days in jail." But even as he pronounced sentence, the mayor was already reaching into his pocket. He extracted a bill and tossed it into his famous sombrero saying: "Here is the ten dollar fine which I now remit; and furthermore I am going to fine everyone in this courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Baliff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant."
So the following day the New York City newspapers reported that $47.50 was turned over to a bewildered old lady who had stolen a loaf of bread to feed her starving grandchildren, fifty cents of that amount being contributed by the red-faced grocery store owner, while some seventy petty criminals, people with traffic violations, and New York City policemen, each of whom had just paid fifty cents for the privilege of doing so, gave the mayor a standing ovation.
even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Grace defined: Noun: the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings.
Like mayor LaGuardia to the woman who was not just accused, but guilty of theft. But it’s worse for us. She stole for noble purpose. To how many of your sins can you justly give noble reason?
Which time you shouted at your spouse or child did you do so for good?
Which time you lusted after a person or object which was not yours did you do so for the good of another or to God’s glory?
Let’s remember where we were once more. We were dead. Not only did God show mercy, but he extended grace.
Undeserved favor. And it cost something. LaGuardia couldn’t ignore the penalty, he paid it…by grace. Mercy would have been to forgive. That would have been unjust. Grace paid the cost himself.
A Gift of Today and Tomorrow
A Gift of Today and Tomorrow
May 29th 1997. That night, after she waited and waited, I finally got down on one knee and asked Monica to be my wife. We thought maybe we would get married that Summer…didn’t work with schedules…maybe Christmas break…her brother was already getting married then…Spring break?…nope…Finals were the week of June 8th-12th…June 13th it was.
One year and 15 days
380 days
9120 hours
547,200 minutes
My undying love and fidelity did not begin on June 13th 1998. It started the day I made the promise. It didn’t reach it’s peak on June 13th either, but instead continues to grow.
There was a date you put faith (we’ll come back to that) in Jesus. That day was not the pinnacle of intimacy with Jesus. It was not the end of your journey with God. There will come a day when that union will be perfect. And then it won
You may have heard the expression lobbed at Christians: So heavenly minded they are
We’ve been given grace and mercy…but so what? Is the blessing only in some distant time when all this is over?
and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Backtrack with me to two weeks ago. Remember as we discussed some of the ways Jesus was just so wonderful in verse 20 we read this:
that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
Past tense. God RAISED Jesus and SEATED him in the heavenly places. That event happened. Now read verse 6 again:
and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
RAISED. SEATED. The day you became “In Christ” your life started. This is why we can boldly say we WERE dead. Eternal life begins now. And Verse 7
so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
He will continue to show us that life into eternity.
Like marriage...There was a date you put faith (we’ll come back to that) in Jesus. That day was not the pinnacle of intimacy with Jesus. It was not the end of your journey with God. There will come a day when that union will be perfect. And then it will continue for eternity beyond. The days between today and that perfect union are not wasted, instead they are opportunities to live in that love, mercy, and grace, drawing others into the same joy you now live in.
A Gift of Faith (by Grace)
A Gift of Faith (by Grace)
Every parent loves to get gifts from their kids...
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Now we get into your part. Right? God gave mercy and grace. God has given this gift for today and forever. We perform the simple act of placing faith in Jesus Christ. That’s what we bring to the party…except...
Think about your story of faith. How much of that story was your decision?
You were born into a location and a family, around people and circumstances...
Not to mention this:
No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.
And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
You are saved through faith. Your belief, your trust in Jesus Christ is what establishes the new righteousness, the renewed relationship with your creator which brings you life.
But lest you consider taking credit for being smart enough to make that decision, remember who gives you the capacity to even consider whether or not you put on rainboots before walking out the door, let alone having the wisdom and humility to recognize your sin, see the gift being offered, and respond to it.
A Gift of Purpose
A Gift of Purpose
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
For…This is the point. We are his workmanship. You were fashioned by God almighty to be exactly who you are. Not so you could live the way you want, not so you can indulge every selfish desire, but for his purposes. If sin is the pervasive decay which spreads like glitter, then the goodness God calls us to is the life of holiness which presses back the darkness.
Holiness from Jesus to us
From us to the world around us
Love God
Love People
Make Disciples
God knew exactly who you would be, where you would be, what resources you would have, what experiences you would endure, and he placed you in position to do these good works, which he prepared ahead of time, not so that you would be saved, but because you are saved, in response to the great gifts we have been given we find that we are also given a purpose to live out, a reason to be, a purpose, a reason God didn’t just scoop you up to heaven once you were saved. Your life is not meaningless. You have a purpose and a call to do all he has called you to. (in the place you are)
Conclusion
Conclusion
There is every possibility I am going to hang this (guitar) back on the wall. I don’t want to. I know there is the opportunity for blessing in my life if I use it.
My life in Christ is the same. I have been given a gift. Because of God’s love and mercy I have been given grace today and forever along with a purpose to carry God’s goodness into the darkness.