Change

Thank you’s : Keith Jeff Rae Ann - Dave Taylor…out a lot on the sidewalks...

Prayer - Thank you for those who were praying for Peach and her dad and step-mom last week…her dad has sounded better this week. Still not out of the woods but their doctors are optomistic. 6-8 more weeks of quarantine for them.

We pray for our friends and family in Mexico…at the Children’s Home. With the weather it was a delayed trip for those traveling from here. And as they were going Zar was undergoing surgeries, monica was ill and Bev was taken to the hospital. I think that our friends from here were going to simply be helpers in a tension filled time for those there. And I think what we pray for is healing and blessings for them there. Amen?

We remember all of those affected by the weather this past week…very dangerous for many still.

But we also have had some praises this past week! Janice Plasket turned 90 …Lori Edwards and my sister Becky Steinke turn respectively 36 and 26 right? I know that many others had birthdays this month too.

We have many things to praise God for…blessings inside of difficult situations right?

Let’s open in prayer. Lord we pray your intervention in the lives of those who have been affected by these storms. Please help those struggling to see your love. We pray for those who are ministering to others in those areas…church families who are getting together to serve their neighbors when they themselves are struggling.

Lord we pray for our family and friends at the Children’s Home in Mexico. Lot’s of illness and disruption and change. Lord, please shine bright there with your love and care and your healing.

Lord help us today to stay in an attitude of Thanksgiving and humility before you…knowing that you’re the one we look to. You created us and all we see, and you offer us your complete love through your son. In His name we pray…and everyone said…Amen

What is a 6 letter word … what many people need in the morning in order to function. Coffee

What is a three letter word … what most people do three times a day to take in needed, energy, vitamins and nutrients. Eat

What is a 5 letter word… what people do when in the stands and their team shoots the winning basket at the last second. Cheer

What is a 4 letter word … what most people hate to do…even when necessary..to alter or shift or to transform... Change

That’s a 4 letter word right?

There are things that happen in life that disrupt what we might call normal life…Technology provides change....right? So many ways change affects us. So many ways we see or walk through change…so many ways to experience change.

Recently we’ve been talking about living each day the absolute best that we can. Living as God sees us. Living as God loves us. Living in a way that we are grateful and humble before the living God who had his son die for us. Living each day so we can shine His light…showing others who it is that is actually glowing through us.

There’s something that we need to do in order for those things to happen…to live life that way. Something that has to happen inside of us…something that we need to be aware of each day. Change.

In our lifetimes…those of us even in this building…we’ve seen a lot of change haven’t we. Some of your probably remember watching the moon landing right? And that after a couple of years of speculation and fear after the horrible news of the Apollo 1 test two years before.

And this past week the spacecraft Perseverence landed on Mars…and the United Arab Emirates and China both have crafts on their way there too. And with that we have pictures continuing to come in showing incredible images of our universe.

This thing we call a phone use to be attached to a wall in our home…with a cord that caused your stand nearby the base…and there was the big change when teenage girls could purchase that 35 food cord that would reach up the stairs and down the hallway so they could talk in their room. Now we carry this in our pockets anywhere we go...

Computers used to be a big thing that sat on the floor and the monitor weighed 40 lbs…now we carry it in our pocket anywhere we go.

You used to have to always go to the bank for most transactions …now there’s an app for that ..that you can carry in your pocket anywhere you go.

You used to go to the nearby truckstop to buy that big foldout map that you’d turn to the left or right as you tried to find where North …and now there’s an app for that that you can carry in your pocket anywhere you go...

Some of you watched as the Berlin wall came down. Big change.

Some of you watched as the stock market plunged years and years ago…and then more recently about 13 years ago…lots of fears right??

Some of you have experienced major change in your personal life. There’s that change you feel when bringing a child home from the hospital. Big change.

Some of you have tried different change in your habits and your day to day life…diets exercise things like that.

Some of you have experienced change with words from the doctor. Scary change. Some of you have realized the personal change necessary in your own life…a fork in the road type of change. Whether that be in a relationship or for your health or for a job situations or school

Some of you have come to that realization of …that type of change that God calls us to…an change that will affect your eternity...

Change.

Big Idea: Jesus came to change everything.

This idea…the idea of change…is tough for many of us isn’t it?

Sometimes life brings change and sometimes try to change life.

Life changes all the time thought doesn’t it?

Isaac Newton’s first law states that, if a body is at rest or moving at a constant speed in a straight line, it will remain at rest or keep moving in a straight line at constant speed unless it is acted upon by a force.

I’m sure that many of you would agree. You’re in that state of rest or in that state of normal…and then something happens, you think about something differently, something is make apparent to you and …a force outside of yourself either causes a change or it at the very minimum shows you of a change that might be necessary.

Have you ever tried to make a change?

The other day I was sitting down after running with the track distance team. I was in a good bit of pain. Joint pain. Something I’ve never really dealt with. I’ve had muscle pain before..soreness…but this was different. My knees and ankles were both experiencing inflammation. I know I have some arthritis in those joints…and I have to say I was worried. Well my wonderful wife had shown me a book that a doctor had given to her …about eating and health. I sat down and started reading it. And it was right what I was thinking…I needed to watch some medicine I’m taking and watch my diet…certain foods and medicines might cause joint inflamation among people of a certain age....haha.

Anyways, I’m turning the pages fast…getting into this…it makes sense…talked about what some of my suspicions were…talked about the amount of processed foods we eat and the amount of sugar we consume.

I was all about this change that I needed to begin. I was ready to go. I was reading the book and the footnoted articles from health journals.

Change was happening…I was going to make this change.

Then, Naarah and Katie walked in from going to the grocery store…and Katie walked around the corner and said, “We got something for you..” and with a big smile she handed me a small chocolate cookie dough blizzard from dairy queen.

And so in about the time of 3 and a half minutes…my commitment to change .... fell right through the floor.

Change is tough.

I think that Jesus is calling us to a change that is much bigger than running or smart phones or diet. He’s calling us to a change that effects all of life…the life He created us with. And this one change…might just help us with all of these other changes that happen around us or that we might make a decision for.

Paul writes about this extensive change. This change goes beyond just earthly things…beyond our day to day. It is a foundational change.

And when writing about this, Paul makes a huge claim. This change that we’re called to…cannot take place through our own strength. In fact, it has to be done through someone else. And it isn’t a change that comes about through a tweak here or there…this change happens through someone else and it requires us to acknowledge that everything we are needs to be laid down … given up … let go of.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

This verse is in the middle of a passage that is just packed with

I’ve been saying this a lot lately but, this is a theological issue. This is super important to everything we do as a church. This is super important to how you study and pray. This has everything to do with why we’re called to have attitudes of gratefulness and humility.

We need to always go back to what we lost because of sin. Through sin we lost the close heart to heart, soul to soul, spirit to spirit, relationship we had with God.

God’s intent through the whole of scripture…His plan through the whole Bible… is to CHANGE us…to CHANGE our situation …to CHANGE our heart and soul.

Here’s what Paul writes. This is huge for us to understand.

Let’s read together .... 2 Corinthians 5:14 is where we will begin

14 For the love of Christ compels us, since we have reached this conclusion, that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised.

THE MINISTRY OF RECONCILIATION

16 From now on, then, we do not know anyone from a worldly perspective. Even if we have known Christ from a worldly perspective, yet now we no longer know him in this way. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! 18 Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. 19 That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us.

Man Sells His Life on e-Bay

Back in 2008 unhappy man in Australia decided to put his whole life up for sale. Ian Usher, a British immigrant to Australia, wanted a fresh start after a painful breakup with his wife of five years. So he was going to put everything up for auction on e-Bay.

Everything. His possessions: a three-bedroom house in Perth and everything in it, his car, motorcycle, jet ski, parachuting gear. His job—the rug store where he worked was willing to give the high bidder a two-week trial. And even a one-time introduction to his friends, who were cooperating.

Everything had to be bought in one package, all or nothing, and the low bid had to exceed $390,000, the upper end of a realtor’s valuation of his house.

After the auction, Ian’s plans were to go to the airport, ask the flight desk where the next flight with an available seat went, and get on and see where life took him.

When you know what change will bring…when you get a taste of how change will affect life…when you get a picture…a true and real picture in your head of what change might bring…then you have more motivation to go after it. And here…this is a choice to accept and admit that Jesus made the change for you and accept that you need this change…accept what He did on your behalf…lay everything down....let go of life as you know it now…and let Him create…re-create you…let Him give you a brand new life

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

Just knowing about something doesn’t do anything for you...

Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that Yahweh is good;

blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.

Remember, think about what Jesus is offering. What are we really talking about here?

This doesn’t seem to be Jesus giving a 2AM infomercial on how to have a better life. How to have a better day. How to be successful or become rich and healthy.

This is about us deciding to allow Him to make the biggest change in our life…allowing Him to do this for us.

This is true of all of us…those who accept the truth about Jesus and those who haven’t made that decision.

Allowing Jesus to begin to move in…take over…it allows Him to change us back to what we were intended to be.

Remember what we lost. A perfect relationship with and near God…with and near each other.

Philippians 1:6

Romans 12:1-2 12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 The characteristics of Love…meaning the Characteristics of God

Galatians 5:22-25 Changed to having the Characteristics of God’s spirit…the fruit of the spirit.

John 17 This is Jesus’ prayer to the Father…just before the cross. And the point of this whole prayer is that God would “reconcile” or make new…our relationship with Him and with each other. CHANGE Jesus’ whole prayer was that because of His death…our lives would change in a way that gets us back to a place where we can regain what we lost.

Now if you’re like me…you might have experienced change like this. You’ve seen God work in your life. You’ve experienced Jesus kind of …helping you grow…see things different…helping you to change your attitude, your outlook on life, your worldview…your point of view. You’ve seen Him work in all of your “Todays” like we talked about before....but you also have experienced set backs. Those times when you pulled back and said…you know I’m going to pick all of this stuff back up and return to my old way of life. Impatience sets in. Frustration sets in. Satan gets his foot in the door and helps you to believe that God isn’t changing things.

Paul spoke to that too…because Paul experienced this same stuff.

Here’s what Paul said.... Philippians 1:6 6 I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

You’re a work in progress. Turn to the person next to you and say…don’t worry, he’s still working on you. He’s working on me too.

Yes…ladies and gentlemen, when we can rest in those few facts....as hard as they are sometimes…we realize that God is re-creating us. He comes in with us…and says…now through this process I’m going to be with you. His spirit, if we’ve joined up with Christ is living with our spirit…guiding us and changing us and our hearts and minds…and he won’t quit until we are made whole again like we were meant to be.

Jesus said…look, I’m making all things new. All includes you if you’ve allowed Him to begin that process.

That’s what was lost. Jesus came to fix what was lost. Only He can do it. what is required of us to simply surrender or give up everything to Him.

When we do that, we’ll see change…not through our own strength…but through His.

Believe me…this is a change you want. Easy? No…Possible? Absolutely. Why because there was this man who predicted he would die…and then he predicted he would come back to life…giving us the whole picture of what will happen to us. The Bible calls Jesus the “first-fruits” of this whole recreation process…meaning…because He was raised…we will be too someday.

Now that’s a lot of theology.

But we’re going to dig into this idea of Jesus being the example…the plan…the one behind re-creation…the one who showed us real life…the next 6 weeks leading to Easter… And so what I’d like you to do is this…we’ll be giving out challenges through these weeks. How to get closer to God. How to share God. How to shine His light daily. Challenges to be the church wherever we are through the week.

We’re coming out of this pandemic. And even if we aren’t ....this church family’s going to grow. Amen!? And it’s not because of we do…it’s because of what He did...

Let’s pray, Jesus…change is tough. And many here are thinking…I can’t do this. I’ve been there. But what we can hold on to is this…you said we can. And if you said it…then we know without any doubts that this can happen. Help us to let go of our situations, our lives, our control…let us allow you to change us from the inside out.