"Different"

So how's we get started this morning in Cumming? Pastor joke about the length of the sermon. I have every motivation. Not to go along. Today is Memorial Day. Weekend is a very important weekend to me. I mean, even though I'm a racing fan and Memorial Day weekend is known as the greatest weekend in racing in the whole year self starts off with the Monaco Grand Prix earlier this morning. It already happened right now. The Indianapolis 500 is going on and then later on this afternoon. The Coca-Cola 600 is happening. So anyway, that's just a bad joke about me liking racing and letting you know get to know me a little bit more. You already knew I liked racing anyway. As a young boy, I liked more than just racing, all those racing kind of found its way into this other life that I have. How many of you know, of the toys and or TV shows and or movies called Transformers. Yeah, I love Transformers as a kid. They were so cool and just watching them in and you notice how they can be like the standing robot like being thing and then also not a car or a helicopter or a scorpion that is metal and digs its way down into the sand and then comes back out. It's just absolutely wild. It was so cool for me to watch as a kid and kind of what's so cool about it to me. Is it Incorporated? Lot of different things that I liked? I like this idea of robots. I like this idea of cars and sing some of them become, you know, Mustangs and Camaros in and Corvettes and all these different things. Like these things are so cool. Like and I had this dream of being a Transformer and becoming a car. And do you know Never happened. Did it, people are now making Halloween costumes, where these kids wear these big boxes and they're able to stand as a kid and also make it down on the ground and there are car and I'm like, that's so cool. I wish I had that thought when I was a kid. But just this idea of something, being able to be one complete being and then kind of transform into another, right? So thinking of the Transformers that the first movie, you know, I think of some of them in one of them became this police car, was a Mustang police car and it was a Decepticon so was a bad guy and what it said, instead of, you know, protect and serve it said enforcing enslave on the side of it. I was like that scary but it was a bad guy so it made sense. But just this idea, it could be this big scary robot that want to take over the world and all these different things or it was a police car that completely blinded in, right? It. Would you drive into this area? That's full of difference, you know officers and different people and nobody would be any of the wiser that it wasn't a person driving that car. Could he get? You can even project a human being in the driver's seat? And it was actually the scene in the movie where this driver is in the driver seat and this person And ask them a question and it's just facing forward because it's not actually, a human being. And so it's not answering any of the questions instead, of asking the Decepticon, the questions and then it transforms in like oh, oh no, here comes the Transformer. It's not good, right? All that to say transformation, right? Is kind of its kind of an important idea and I wanted to bring to you the definition from the Oxford dictionary of transform. Transform. The definition is make a thorough or dramatic change in the form appearance or character of to make a thorough or dramatic change in the form appearance or character of And as we get into the sermon series that I'm going to be preaching a sermon series, four for four straight weeks on this idea of transformation. And transformation is a very, very big topic. I feel in our faith. And so I wanted I want to talk about it with you for a little bit. And the reason why the sermon series is entitled simply transformed is because sometimes I think we look at transformation and it's a scary thing. I'm comfortable where I'm at. I'm comfortable with, who, I am. I don't want to be completely transformed. I don't want to have to make a dramatic change to my character. I don't have to make a dramatic change to who I am. But in some ways actually transformation can be quite simple. Be quite simple. And we're going to look at that as we go about these next four weeks. And so how how the sermon series is going to look at is this week? We're going to look at actually are called to be different then something else to be different than the world. To be completely different than those who are in the world, who know nothing of Jesus, then the world and those who give into its fleshly desires are called to be different. And then, we'll look at this. This idea of that. I've just been reading about a lot recently. And that I'm really excited about Injustice idea of, of, of being Of being with God, I'm just being able to be. I will look at how that actually is kind of a simple way to go after transformation and what it looks like to be a transformed person and then how transformation and when we are transformed how that weaves its way into our relationships with others. And so that's what this is. Next. Four weeks are going to look like this morning. We are starting with this idea of being different of being different. How are we supposed to look different? What are the things that were supposed to be different from? Even. That's what you'll be doing this morning. And so you might see on your sermon outlines that this first section is entitled are reviewing the light in the darkness, the light in the Darkness review. And as I was kind of putting together, the first sermon, I realized this the sermon that I preached because like 5 weeks ago or so around. There was a week after Easter. It actually please really really well into what we're discussing this morning and actually something Pastor not mentioned last week really. Weaves its way well into the sermon as well. What he was talking about and how the Beast Friday try to seduce us into giving our loyalties over to them. But that we are to remain faithful to Jesus, right? Almost as if there are these two different ways of living, there two different ways of living there. The Beast is Jesus. There is the darkness, there is light and the language that were using this morning. There's a Flash and there is the spirit. And so, that's what we're going to be discussing this morning. With this review, the light in the darkness, Proverbs to 12. Through 15 says, wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men. For men, whose words are perverse, who have left the house to walk in dark ways, who Delight, in doing wrong and rejoice. In the perverseness of evil. It was pads are crooked and who are devious in their ways. But he of Darkness, there are powers that are devious that are evil that are dark ways. And so we see that Darkness exists and is anything that is anti-god. So that's kind of a copy and paste from 5 weeks ago, but Darkness exists and is anything that is anti-god.

But we also know something different. There is something different out there. If this was just how the world was, who would want to live in it. I wouldn't be an exciting or good world to live in. There is something different. Watch and Pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh the flesh is weak. So what's going on in this verse here is that this is the evening before, Jesus is going to be crucified. And Jesus wants to go away to pray and he just Falls face down on the ground and praise to his father. Cuz he knows what is coming and he asked his friends. He asked his disciples hate. Will you keep watch for me? Will you do just that? I know that they're coming, but will you keep watch for me, please? I want to spend this time with my father. I want to be with him.

And keep in mind, it's if it's night time. The disciples are tired and exhausted. And so what does Jesus come back to find? He finds them asleep? He's like no, I asked you to stay awake for me just to do this. One thing for me and he says this to Peter Watch and Pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Right? Peter is tired. His body is begging for him to go to sleep. His body. His flashes saying, it's go to sleep. We're tired. We need it. But we do know. It seems as though that Jesus knows that Peter his Spirit knows that he should stay awake. I should support Jesus in this. He is my friend. He is my savior. He needs us in this moment. My spirit wants to stay awake for him. But he fell asleep. Because the flesh is weak, though. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. And so, even the even then Jesus. It's kind of helping him. He's teaching him. Here's a way that you might be able to stay awake. Pray, do something while you keep watch, don't you sit there and look out. What's the tear in pray? Keep your mind going? That might actually help you stay awake. So, Jesus is even coaching him In This Moment. In This Moment of need that Jesus has All that to say, all that to say is that we're much like Peter, we struggle against the Darkness, Be internally, struggle against the darkness.

Because our our spirit, the Willing, the flesh is weak. We know sometimes what we ought to choose, we know what we should choose, but we struggle to choose those things because guess what are flash is Desiring after other things. And so you might be having wondering, OK, Google slide art can be an important thing, right? Flight artists fun or it can be meaningful. So why is there a chair in your slide art? The chair is there for a reason? We take you back to a time when I was in college? Exactly. All throughout College on Thursday mornings. We would have Chapel on Tuesday and Thursday mornings on Thursday mornings. We would have chapel. And on those Thursday mornings. I believe it was Thursday could been Tuesday, but I think it was Thursday. The drama team. Would you ask it? Drama team to do a skit. Until then, open most often than not, they do a skit there that, you know, someone else had written and then kind of put their own, you know, spin on a little bit, but they kind of follow along. I believed it that this skit was one that was originally done by The Skit, Guys. And so what they did was they had this tool, they brought up the stool and they sat down and it was just two people. What does stool signified was this person's life decisions? And the two people that were up there was the person whose stool that was governing over their life, and it was God. And whoever was sitting in the stool, whoever was there was the person was the one that was making the decisions for their life. That was governing their decisions as they move throughout life. And it was so much, it was kind of humorous to watch this, this this drama play out. And as I think about it, you know, it's a lot more serious then, then maybe I gave it in the moment because this person they were, they would say, Okay, God, I've made the decision. You're here, sit down in the stool, make the make the decisions for me. I want to follow your will. I want to follow what you choose for my life. But then, they'd be faced with some sort of decision, right? Decision has been in my mind. I don't know why has been okay. Maybe, maybe you have a grandmother. And you had some sort of Rift in your relationship with your grandmother and now she's she's close to it to passing, right? So you you know that you probably should go see her. That's on your friends. Will. I hate? We're going out and we want you to join us. Come come with us and you're sitting there thinking your mind. I know, I should go. That the spirit is leading me towards seeing my grandmother, but we have this Rift in a relationship and it was hard and I don't know if she's going to be happy to see me or not. I also just really want to go out with my friends and have fun with them until this decision. They're faced with it and they're like, I don't know what what the shoes. In this play, that would kind of be this humorous, way of, you know, God is on the stool. He's sitting there and then you kind of, you know, you get on the school with them, any kind of nudge him off and say, okay. And now I'm making the decision. I'm the one giving him my life and I feel that decision is made it back up. Okay. God, you have it from here on out. write a review but also, That's the internet, that's like internally how my mind is going. Right? I I struggle with these decisions, I struggle with who's on the chair. It's a lot. That's why the sliders there. As I want to ask you who's in your chair. Who's the one sitting there? Who's in my chair? It is it, is it me. Is it you? Or is it? Is it God? Is God, the one that is in your chair? Because we do, we internally struggle against the darkness.

But we also know this that first John 15 through 7 says, this is the message we have heard from him and declare to you. God is life. God is light in him. There is no Darkness at all, if we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, if we claimed that he is in the chair yet. We are actually the ones in the chair. Then we lie and do not live out the truth. But if we walk in the light, if we allow God, to be in the chair, actually in the chair, as he is, in the light, we have fellowship with one another, in the blood of Jesus, his son. Faiz us from all sin. And so we know that God is the light in the darkness and we were made to live in him. God is the light in the darkness and we were made to live in him. Two different ways of living either were in the chair or God is in the chair who is in your chair. Who was the one governing your life?

That was removed for Rena. Focus, a lot on what? Paul on the Apostle Paul has to say about this topic, because it he has a lot to say on this topic about being different from the world. What's the start off in Galatians 5? We see this. The acts of the flesh are obvious, sexual immorality, in Purity and debauchery idolatry and Witchcraft, hatred Discord, jealousy, fits of Rage, selfish ambition dissensions, factions and envy drunkenness. Orgies in the like I warn you, as I did before that, those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. That Paul doesn't just have a list of Galatians. He also has a listing Colossians where he says put to death there for whatever belongs to your Earthly nature, sexual morality and Purity lost evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. But now, you must also read your cells of all such things. As these anger, rage malice slander and filthy language from your lips to ways of living. Two ways of living in darkness, acts of the flesh that this list is not exhaustive list of everything, that is the acts of The Flash, or the actual Flash. No, but this should be a good indicator as to what what are We're smart. I think we can figure out sometimes what are included in this list or would be included in this list. But we see that the flash desires the darkness. The Flash desires the darkness and remember for Matthew flesh is weak. The Flash wants us to go to sleep if we're talking about the chair and we're in that moment with Peter and was Jesus, right? He knows what he should do. He knows he should stay awake. He knows he should stay awake. But what is The Flash want to do? One song to go to sleep and Sophie put Scout on that chair? I mean, he was actually there in that moment. But if you put Jesus on the chair, puts God in that chair, right? He stays awake. He keeps watch. He supports his friend in a time of need. Borden said happens. Peter. Just got off the chair and says I want to come sleep. I'm tired. Who was in your chair? Now, let's go to a good list. I don't like negativity all the time. So what's what's what's in the good list here. You might have heard this before, Galatians 5, but the fruit of the spirit is love joy, peace forbearance, kindness goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control against such things. There is no law. An awesome Colossians. Therefore as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved clothe yourselves with compassion kindness, humility, gentleness and patience bear with each other and forgive one. Another, if any of you has a grievance against someone forgive as the Lord forgave you, and over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect. Unity.

Now, we we get kind of, we cringe at the the acts of the flesh list like things are not good. Right, but I think also, sometimes we might cringe at this list when we read the word forgiveness for like, I haven't forgiven that person for this thing. Oh, I see. I struggle at loving this person, right? I'm kind of cringe at this list as well. Because sometimes our flesh desires to not do these things that are the acts of the spirit. The fruits of the spirit. So there are two ways of living but the the spirit it desires, the light, the spirit, desires the light. And so we have this kind of internal struggle going on all the time all the time between the flash is designing after the darkness and in the spirit of Desiring after the lights, and we're caught in the struggle. We're caught in between. Who's in the chair. Is it me? Is it you? Or is it God?

Now, Paul is a human being. Sometimes, we look at Paul, we think of this great figurehead of our faith. Right, he wrote all these letters to different churches. He's an author of a lot of how we speak in our Theology and he is as great person. We was also a human being, and he struggled in many of the ways that we struggle with internally. He struggled. And I think that in Romans 7 in Roman 7, he gives us kind of image into our own mind of how we struggle through these things. It's, it's messy and it's confusing. But it's so true though three that together this morning, Romans 7 for, I do not do the good. I want to do what to eat, who I do not want to do this. I keep on doing. I'm confused already cuz just all the different words in there that all the doing and all the not doing, right. So what's going on for? I do not do the good. I want to do, I don't listen to the spirit, the stuff that I know I ought to be doing. I don't do those things. Guess what? The evil that I don't want to do that's going to keep on doing. So this this image into our own minds of how we struggle with this, right? I feel this that the things, the good things that I want to do. Another don't do those things about things that I don't want to do. Sometimes I, I do those things. It's not good. They keep some pee keeps going. Now. If I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but as it is sin living in me, that does it. Now, this isn't Paul saying, you know, like this is my get-out-of-jail-free card. Like it's not, it's not me. I'm perfect, right? It's not Paul saying that at all. He's not saying that this is my excuse and it's not my fault. Just I'm going to keep on living right now. With Paul saying In This Moment, is that hey, I'm caught in between the struggle of of the spirit of knowing the things that I ought to be doing. And then it is sin. Living in me. The fleshly desires that I have for the dark for you. Am I struggle against those things? He's not saying that pushing away from him and saying, it's not my fault. It's not my fault. You just saying, I struggle with these things. I struggle with sin. I struggle with his fleshly desires and he carries forward. So I find this lot work. Although I want to do, good evil is right there with me for, in my inner, being I Delight in God's law, I Delight in the spirits. I Delight in God's will, but I see another law at work and you Waging War against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a Wretched Man? I am who will rescue me from this body. That is subject to death. Alice is not a sermon. This is not a verse where I am coming up here. And I am saying, think of how wretched you are. That's not what I'm doing because guess what? You're probably already doing it. I don't need to remind you of that. I don't need to tell you to think of that cuz you probably think about that much like Paul is thinking about that in this moment. I think about that. I'm like, the good things that I want to do. I don't do them the bad things. I don't want to do, I do them. It's already I'm there. That's why I don't feel the need to come up here and remind you of that. They can't tell terrible. You are because guess what? We're already in that mindset. Sometimes we already think about that. And so I love that. Paul doesn't just ask the question and leave it there. He answers it. Who will rescue me from this body. That is subject to death. Thanks be to God. Who delivers me through, Jesus Christ, Our Lord.

So then I myself in my mind. I'm a slave to God's law but in my sinful nature of slaves of the Lost soon just acknowledging who he is, right? And it's not this perfect perfectly laid out order of, you know, I feel this way and then I I know I should be this way and then there's Jesus, right? Even go circles. Back around to say I am in the struggle everyday. Because he's just thinking out loud at this time. He's writing a letter to someone.

Thing I struggle with this but guess what? Jesus is there and he delivered me from it and it's awesome. But also I struggle with this. Much like in my own mind, right? Sometimes I'm right there. I'm like, I struggle with this. But Jesus, is there to deliver me. Then I go back to I struggle with this right in this gets kind of this cycle, but we struggle through these things. I think Elations 5 does for the flash desires. What is contrary to the spirit in the spirit was contrary to the flesh, they are in conflict with each other so that you are not to do whatever you want. And so we find that there is a war waged within us between the spirit and the flesh. There is a war waged within us between the spirit and the Flash. I think sometimes we naturally think of that war being fought outside of us outside of these walls. So I can, we see the conflict between the spirit in the flesh out there. But also that conflict is happening in Ridley inside of us. And guess who's there to Deliver Us from that? Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. Is there to deliver us out of this conflict out of this war that is being waged within us.

And so let's look at specifically are called to be different. So Colossians 3, we read this earlier, put to death there, for whatever belongs to your Earthly nature, sexual morality and Purity lost evil desires and greed which is idolatry put to death because of these, the wrath of God is coming. He used to walk in these ways in the life he wants live, but now you must also read yourselves of all such things as these anger, rage malice slander and filthy language from your lips.

Do not lie to each other. Since you have taken off your old self with its practices and then Galatians, it says, those who belong to Christ. Jesus have crucified, The Flash with its passions and its desires. And so we are called to put to death all acts of the flesh, put them to death. That is a very aggressive.

Put them to death. Don't just put them on the shelf for later. Just put them in an icebox and and put them in the closet. Then pull out the box again and blow off the dust and uncover it right now. Put them to death. Get rid of them rid, yourselves of all acts of the flesh. I know that's a lot easier said than done, but that's what we're called to do. Is completely put him to death to completely, get rid of them. And I think it's no coincidence. That Paul, in Galatians, draws a correlation between crucifixion and the acts of the flesh. But we're still pretty close off of the heels of Easter. I think we all kind of know what goes into that story. The crucifixion was gruesome. It was awful. It was humiliating. It was degrading.

But then Paul and Galatians draws a correlation between that and putting to death or acts of the flesh. Are desires of the flesh crucify. Those things completely rid yourselves of those things. Get rid of them. He gone with them. Get up out of the chair. Is for God to sit in the chair, we first have to get up out of it. The rid yourselves of those things.

And then moving forward Colossians 3, 12 through 14. Therefore as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved clothe yourselves with compassion kindness humility, gentleness and patience bear with each other and forgive one. Another, if any of you has a grievance against someone forgive as the Lord forgave you, and over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. And so, what are we called to do? We are called to put on the acts of the spirit.

It's not just about putting to death the actual the flesh. It's not just about getting rid of those things and saying I'm done with those things. It's also about. Hey, I need to put on the acts of the spirit. I need actually love people. I need to actually forgive people. I need to actually be in relationship with people. And this isn't also a sermon where, you know, it's it's, hey start doing all the good things so that you can get into heaven. That's that's not where we're going with this. The idea of transformation. Is this the deep deep change within us that happens? It's not this idea of. Okay. I've made the decision. Now, I need to do the good things as opposed to the bad things to get into heaven. It's this idea of we just can't help, but do the good things because of what Jesus did for us? We made a choice to follow Jesus and because of what he did for us and his salvation. We now can't help, but be changed from the inside out. And forgiving, others, and loving others, and being gracious, to others, giving them Grace when they mess up. We just can't help it do that. But no, it's not just about stopping the bad things, and doing the good things about the n-word change that happens within us because of what Jesus did and Paul is kind of kind of the chief of describing that that playing out. So one of the one of my favorite two lines and scripture comes from Paul. And he kind of layout this idea that hate your saved by Jesus. Jesus, is the one that delivers you or he'd lay out that idea. Jesus, saves you. And then you ask this question. Does this mean that I go on sinning? Does this mean that I keep on sinning? Does anyone know the line that comes next? By no means. Absolutely, not. Surely not by no means. Do I go on sinning? And so Paul, lays out this idea. You are saved by Jesus. It is not what you stop doing and start doing that saves you. It is Jesus Christ himself. Let me. Guess what? That should change you in Woodleaf. Does that mean you keep on sending? Absolutely not. By no means. I'm, so then we are called to put on the acts of the spirit. Your cousin love others. Be gracious to others to forgive others. As we were forgiven. And so we see this, I worked at the world. It influences us towards the flash. It just does. Do you have ever, ever, ever heard this term of of worldly things of fleshly things, are there? Similar and show the world that influence of us towards the flesh. But God influences us towards the spirit. God is always pushing us towards. Being more christ-like. The choosing the things that we know we have to choose even when it's hard. Just saying I am getting up out of the chair. I'm putting to death the acts of The Flash. I'm putting on the actual, the spear and I'm telling God you sit there and you make the decisions for my life you govern, where I go my direction. How I interact with people. Who is in your chair? Who's in your chair? And so we see that that simply simply that God desires for us to be different. God desires for us to be different.

Cuz what the world looks like. The world everybody sitting in their own chair. A deciding what they want to do, based on how they feel about stuff. They somehow they feel about others based on how they feel about the world and they're deciding what they do, which direction they go based on. Them sitting in the chair. But in reality, what what we are supposed to do, how we are to be different than the world is? We are supposed to say, God, you are the one in the chair. You are the one that is making the decisions for my life. And I fully submit to you. I fully submit to your will that's hard. Nothing. That's easy to do. I ask one more time, who is in your chair? Father will forward this morning. I just want to offer you some next steps. If this is something that you are feeling led to our are you are feeling loved to getting up out of the chair and saying God you are in my chair. I'd invite you to give your life to Jesus as we sing our final song. He can come forward and I'll chat with you about that or you can join a small group or a service team. If you want to get more involved and just continue this process of transformation, or you can sign up for a connect classes, where pastor Matt will meet with you over lunch and you can just discuss what we believe are the church and what we do, and how you can get more involved. So as we move forward to ask that you stand in a reflect on those things, as we sing our final song,