Soil of Renewal

Steve McKenzie

Renewed • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago

Ephesians 3:14–21

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INTRO

REVIEW

Thank you for joining us this morning

Thankful for Justin preaching the past two weeks - especially appreciative of how he started our new series entitled, RENEWAL | Cultivating our Hearts for Transformation

Renewal is about strengthening our inner man - our mind, emotion, and will.

Renewal is being rooted and grounded in the love of Jesus as we seek to understand and experience the breadth, length, height, and depth of God’s love.

RENEWAL vs REVIVAL

Renewal: Is a refreshment, release, and advancement that individuals and churches experience as they are realigned with God’s presence and purpose.

Revival: is when renewal catches fire on a large scale, bringing significant advancement and growth and kingdom fruit to a city.

MY HEART

Before the pandemic -

God began to use the writing and podcasts of an Australian Pastor named, Mark Sayers, to begin to stir in me an expectation and desire for renewal.

He says this in his book, ‘Reappearing Church,’ “The secularist life script is dependent on crucial political, economic, and social factors being in place, elements that are becoming fragile, opening a new potential for renewal and revival in the West.”

Buckets with holes - unable to hold our hope and produce the security, rest, and belonging we seek.

These broken vessels bring us to a place of crisis. There are sociological markers exposing the fault lines within the fragile structures in our culture.

He warned that crisis was on the horizon but he had no idea what lay just around the corner.

PANDEMIC

Crisis is a gateway to renewal. God allows cultural crises to drive us back to him.

This is what happened during the FIRST GREAT AWAKENING. Over the next 5 weeks - FIVE GREAT AMERICAN REVIVALS

In the 1720s the American Church was in crisis. Inside the church, apathy consumed the children of the Puritan fervor. Outside the church, the Enlightenment moved people away from God toward Reason and Intellect as their God.

The church became divided - new denominations sprang up as old denominations calcified themselves in manmade tradition. American individualism was the breeding ground for denominationalism.

With church’s back against the wall, a gateway to renewal was opened. Some young vibrant preachers boldly proclaimed God’s Word. Nothing new, but historical truths declared with a fresh fire.

Jonathan Edwards was one such man - writings like, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” He preached that salvation came through faith alone and without faith, sinners would spend an eternity in hell. This wasn’t new to the church but there was a passion that cut to the souls of his congregation.

There were others, like George Whitfield, John and Charles Wesley who preached a personal relationship with Christ. It was as though God was waking people from their slumber.

Even as the Apostle Paul says a few short verses from our passage this morning, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”

These men were not perfect. They have faults and blemishes.

DISREGARD? - Some would say to disregard these men because of their failures

HOPE - For me it gives hope. God used imperfect men and women to bring renewal to the church. You know what that means? Maybe he would choose to use us. Maybe we too could participate in what God has planned for his church today.

SEED OF RENEWAL

Prayer for Renewal is a seed

Admire, ignore, go on about our lives

Keep doing what we’ve always done and maybe something will change

Throw it our pockets, bring it along for our regular routines, hope for things to return to normal, may throw in a little renewal

Careless, whatever, pessimism has sunk deep in your hearts.

It’s just a word, just a sermon series, then we’ll move on to something else

My story as a teenage

I said it to myself then, and I say it again now - may I NEVER be like that person.

We can plant the seed of renewal with hope and expectation and we pray.

Where to we place this seed?

How and where should we plant it?

How do we nurture and cultivate it?

PRAY THE TEXT

PLANTING THE SEED OF RENEWAL

“FROM HIS GLORIOUS, UNLIMITED RESOURCES...” (NLT)

“ACCORDING TO THE RICHES OF HIS GLORY” (ESV)

HEARTS IN TURMOIL

ADJECTIVES DESCRIBING OUR PRESENT REALITY

WHERE IS YOUR HEART THIS MORNING? DURING THIS SEASON OF LIFE?

Fearful / Concerned / Worried

Fragmented / Divided / Hard to Consentrate

Frustrated

Overwhelmed / Cut-off switch / New stressor and I shut down

Angry / Short-Tempered / Irritated

Tired / Numb

Depressed

Stuck

Confused

Scared

WHAT IF CRISIS IS THE PATHWAY TO RENEWAL?

Maybe your thinking - I don’t feel anywhere close to renewal

What if these emotions are not moving us further away from renewal by closer

What if this is exactly where God needs us to be?

What if we come to God as beggars taking the minuscule seek of hope for renewal and placing it into the hands of Jesus?

FOCUS ON FIVE (5) WORDS

(1) “FROM...”

Jesus is the Source of our renewal

NOT

Our Strength, obedience, ability, faith, fortitude, emotion

“For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory” Romans 11:36

Colossians 1:15–18 NLT

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see— such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything.

RENEWAL COMES FROM JESUS, NOT OUR ACTIONS OR PLANNING

PLANT THE SEED OF REVIVAL INTO THE HANDS OF JESUS - LOOK AT VERSE 17

Ephesians 3:17 ESV

so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

(2) “HIS...”

Who is this? God, the creator of everything in heaven and on earth

John 1:1–5 NLT

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.

Genesis 1:1–3 NLT

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

2 Corinthians 4:5–6 ESV

For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

(3) “GLORIOUS...”

Isaiah 6:3 ESV

And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”

Habakkuk 2:14 ESV

For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Psalm 57:5 NLT

Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens! May your glory shine over all the earth.

Psalm 72:19 NLT

Praise his glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen!

Songs of Revelation

Revelation 4:8 ESV

And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

Revelation 4:11 ESV

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

Revelation 5:9–10 ESV

And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.”

Revelation 5:12–13 ESV

saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

Revelation 15:3–4 NLT

And they were singing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb: “Great and marvelous are your works, O Lord God, the Almighty. Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations. Who will not fear you, Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous deeds have been revealed.”

Revelation 19:1 ESV

After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, “Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God,

Revelation 19:6–8 ESV

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

Revelation 22:13 NLT

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”

(4) “UNLIMITED...”

ESV - According to the riches of his glory

NLT - from his glorious, unlimited resources

How far is the east from the west? How far is the north from the soul?

Where can you run to on this earth and escape the presence of God?

Isaiah 55:9 NLT

For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.

Job 36:22–24 NLT

“Look, God is all-powerful. Who is a teacher like him? No one can tell him what to do, or say to him, ‘You have done wrong.’ Instead, glorify his mighty works, singing songs of praise.

1 Kings 8:27 NLT

“But will God really live on earth? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built!

1 Timothy 6:16 NLT

He alone can never die, and he lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach him. No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will. All honor and power to him forever! Amen.

Psalm 147:5 NLT

How great is our Lord! His power is absolute! His understanding is beyond comprehension!

WHENEVER I BEGIN TO QUESTION GOD IN MY HEART...

Job 38:2–41 NLT

“Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorant words? Brace yourself like a man, because I have some questions for you, and you must answer them. “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me, if you know so much. Who determined its dimensions and stretched out the surveying line? What supports its foundations, and who laid its cornerstone as the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? “Who kept the sea inside its boundaries as it burst from the womb, and as I clothed it with clouds and wrapped it in thick darkness? For I locked it behind barred gates, limiting its shores. I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come. Here your proud waves must stop!’ “Have you ever commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east? Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night’s wickedness? As the light approaches, the earth takes shape like clay pressed beneath a seal; it is robed in brilliant colors. The light disturbs the wicked and stops the arm that is raised in violence. “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come? Have you explored their depths? Do you know where the gates of death are located? Have you seen the gates of utter gloom? Do you realize the extent of the earth? Tell me about it if you know! “Where does light come from, and where does darkness go? Can you take each to its home? Do you know how to get there? But of course you know all this! For you were born before it was all created, and you are so very experienced! “Have you visited the storehouses of the snow or seen the storehouses of hail? (I have reserved them as weapons for the time of trouble, for the day of battle and war.) Where is the path to the source of light? Where is the home of the east wind? “Who created a channel for the torrents of rain? Who laid out the path for the lightning? Who makes the rain fall on barren land, in a desert where no one lives? Who sends rain to satisfy the parched ground and make the tender grass spring up? “Does the rain have a father? Who gives birth to the dew? Who is the mother of the ice? Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens? For the water turns to ice as hard as rock, and the surface of the water freezes. “Can you direct the movement of the stars— binding the cluster of the Pleiades or loosening the cords of Orion? Can you direct the constellations through the seasons or guide the Bear with her cubs across the heavens? Do you know the laws of the universe? Can you use them to regulate the earth? “Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain? Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct? Who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind? Who is wise enough to count all the clouds? Who can tilt the water jars of heaven when the parched ground is dry and the soil has hardened into clods? “Can you stalk prey for a lioness and satisfy the young lions’ appetites as they lie in their dens or crouch in the thicket? Who provides food for the ravens when their young cry out to God and wander about in hunger?

THIS GOES ON FOR ANOTHER 3 CHAPTERS

Job responds

I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you.

You asked, “who question you with such ignorance - It is I and I was talking about things I know nothing about

I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to my repentance.

May our response be the same this morning

We have placed our hope in broken cisterns

Dry and broken

Unable about to contain the weight and magnitude of our hope

We’ve looked to:

Religious activity

Occupational Success

Marriage & Children

Possessions

Comfort, Health, Ease of Life

Entertainment, Amusement Parks, Distraction

We’ve settled for rubbish and placed our hope in things that are impotent and worthless

(5) “RESOURCES...”

DEFINITION: “a stock or supply of something valuable that can be drawn on by another person to function effectively. “

This he who HE is. Think on his GLORY and UNLIMITED nature.

AND REALIZE that God makes himself available to you.

This infinite God chooses to dwell inside the heart of those who trust him.

b. Where will you place your hope for renewal?

Into the generous, capable, powerful, glorious hands of our redeemer.

In brokenness - in the dirt and ash of repentance we look to God.

c. My Prayer is that you come to end of yourself. That crisis leaves no option but to cry out to God. That we would completely believe that the glorious, unlimited resources of Jesus is the source of our personal and corporate renewal. This is the soil into which we place our hope.