I Am Significant

Series Review

describing people you can’t name - appearance (flattering, distinctive); superficial; deeper? testimony? gifts? character?

could people describe you without mentioning your appearance? what do you; what are you really like? generous; loved God; God worked miracles

Point: truest definition is from God, not beauty, charismatic; not your wealth - not even your skills and jobs - identify comes from

you can’t live beyond what you believe

unacceptable - low self esteem; people pleasing - rejected, so we

insecure - defensive posture; guarded; no risk taking

you are signficant - we fail, so we consider ourselves failures; we are not needed, so we are hands off; God has no plan, so we make the plans

It starts in the mind

Sermon Introduction - why should we be considered important?

not realizing your significance

hard to describe someone who is unattractive, dad missing party - kids notice; generosity - people notice;

e.g. greeted at church

unnoticed; noticed and “missed” ; noticed and missed because of abilities

shattered image

The true significance of life is that God made human beings in his own image with precious value. And that value, that significance, consists in knowing God, loving God, showing God. In other words, life is about God. Man is not central. God is central. He created the universe and humanity in order to magnify the greatness of God. And our joy in this world, which God made essential, is in Jesus Christ, in God the Father, in the Holy Spirit.

but

shattered image- don’t reflect Christ perfectly

significance in performance, significance in skill, significant in Christ

The point: We know we are significant when Jesus is central.

Question: Will this last?

following Jesus in the negative sense: avoid sin; put aside plans for success; sell possessions give to the poor; sacrifice luxury; giving up happiness

- describes success; happiness; following Jesus at the center; image of a vine w/branches; we are connected to Christ.

I am a channel of Christ’s life. I am an extension of Christ.

I am the hands and feet of Christ

Christ came to: bridge the gap; show us our value; heal; lay down his life; provide eternal life

John 15:5 NIV

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

so what? ministry - human planning, human selection; human control; measurable and predictable;

measure our activities, relationships - how is this an extension of Christ’s life? does it have eternal significance?

I am God’s Temple

what does this mean? - meaning of temple in OT - God dwells in a building; God is

now in the...

John 15:7 NIV

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

John 15:

1 Corinthians 3:16 NIV

Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?

negative sense - don’t smoke, drink too much, watch your diet, as a servant of God you are obligated to take care of your body

an individual sense - referring to you

True: spirit lives in you - that makes you significant. Also means responsibility. We are a vessel

so what?

I am a minister of reconciliation for God.

2 Corinthians 5:17–19 NIV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 5:17–21 NIV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

John 15:12–13 NIV

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

2 Corinthians 5:17-

e.g. of separation: families; friendships; churches

result: bitterness; corrosive;

God - shame, anger,