2-23-14 Sermon

To listen to the sermon, click here. The audio is not great - still working out kinks with recording. Part of the sermon was a video of Dr. Chauncey Crandall so all you hear is the audio and its not that terrific. Transcript is below.

HOW Jesus DEALS WITH DEAD THINGS

Miracles Still Happen

Part 1

02-23-14 Sermon

¹⁷ On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, ¹⁹ and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. ²⁰ When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. ²¹ “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”²⁴ Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶ and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”²⁷ “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”²⁸ After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” ²⁹ When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.³² When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ³⁴ “Where have you laid him?” he asked.“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.³⁵ Jesus wept.³⁶ Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” ³⁸ Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ³⁹ “Take away the stone,” he said.“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”⁴⁰ Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”⁴¹ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”⁴³ When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” John 11:17-44

How does Jesus deal with dead things?

1.  Jesus embraces them ____________________________.

³⁵ Jesus wept.

2.  Jesus exposes them ______________________________. 

³⁸ Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ³⁹ “Take away the stone,” he said.

3.  Jesus exhibits His ________________________________.

⁴⁰ Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

4.  Jesus engulfs them ________________________________.

⁴³ When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

5.  Jesus expects them to ______________________________. 

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; ²⁶ and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Video Clip of Dr. Chauncey Crandall, Cardiologist
HOW Jesus DEALS WITH DEAD THINGS

Miracles Still Happen

Part 1

02-23-14 Sermon

Today I am starting a new series called Miracles Still Happen.  Did you know that hundreds of millions, yes hundreds of millions of people around the world today testify to witnessing or experiencing a miraculous healing? Even in America 72% of Americans believe that God can cure even a mortally ill person that doctors have given up on. 79% affirm that miracles still occur today as in ancient times. And over 100 million Americans claim to have had a dream that accurately predicted the future.   Next week I am going to be ministering in Florida and Dr. Crunk is going to come and speak to you about some miracles he has seen as a medical doctor.  I really wish I was going to be here to hear that.

Today I want us to look at what Jesus does with dead things, and especially focus on the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  Lazarus was a close friend of Jesus along with his sisters Martha and Mary.  These three people were part of Jesus’ support group.  They were “replenishing people” for Jesus.  When Jesus was hanging around Lazarus and Martha and Mary He wasn’t working.  He was just relaxing and chilling.  It seemed that He stopped by their home often when He traveled in their region.  He was so close to them that it says when Lazarus fell ill the only message that was dispatched to Jesus was this, “Lord, the one You love is sick.”  That’s all they needed to say. 

By the time the message arrived Jesus knew better.  He knew that Lazarus was already dead.  So He stayed where He was for two more days then headed on down the road to Bethany to meet with the family.  He wasn’t in danger of missing the funeral because in that time Jewish funerals lasted ten days.  You had three days of excruciating mourning followed by four days of relatively intense mourning then followed by three days of more moderate lighter mourning.  There’s probably something to be said for grieving a loss over that kind of time. 

So Jesus knew if He got there in the third or fourth day the funeral was still going to be in full swing.  So He heads down the road to Bethany. 

As He got close to the village Martha got word that He was coming and she went out to the edge of town to meet Him.  She came to Jesus, ran up to Him, and she comes to Jesus I think in the same way most of us come to Jesus when we deal with our dead things.  She comes with her “if only.”  “Jesus, if only You had been here my brother wouldn’t have died.”  And Jesus said, “Martha, your brother will live.”  And Martha said, “I know.  I know he’s going to live in the last day when the resurrection takes place.”  And Jesus said, “Martha!  The resurrection is not an event.  The resurrection is a person.  I’m the resurrection and the life.  Anybody who believes in me even though he dies, he’ll live.  Do you believe this?”  Jesus sparked something in Martha and she said, “Yes, I do believe that.  I believe You’re the one who came from God.” 

It seems that that was all the faith that Jesus needed to work a miracle.  But He still called for Mary.  “I want to talk to Mary too.  Tell Mary I want to see her.”  Mary gets word that Jesus wants to see her.  She comes out and she is followed by a whole crowd of mourners.  This is an interesting group of people.  Some of them are family and friends who are legitimately grieving the loss of Lazarus.  Others are just kind of part of the people who would wail and grieve and mourn as some kind of religious custom in those days.  You just wailed for the dead whether you knew them or not. 

So Mary comes out with this mob of grievers in tow.  And Mary goes up to Jesus and she’s a little more demonstrative than Martha.  She falls down at Jesus’ feet and weeps and says the same words that her sister Martha did “Jesus, if only You had been here my brother wouldn’t be dead.”

When Mary came to Jesus with her “if only” she fell down weeping and the Bible says that Jesus was deeply moved and troubled in His Spirit.  Then the Bible says that Jesus wept.  Tears came pouring down His face.  He said, Show me where he is.  Where’s the tomb.  They say, Come follow us, and they take Him to the tomb and He sees it with a big boulder right in front.  By the way, this is just a few weeks before Jesus’ own death and burial and resurrection.  He sees that boulder and He says,  Take that stone away!”  People objected at first but then with a little prodding they roll the stone away and Jesus says “ Lazarus!  Come forth.”  And the dead man lived.  This mummy appeared at the door of the tomb and Jesus said, “Loose him and let him go.”  That’s how Jesus deals with dead things.

How does Jesus deal with dead things?

1.  Jesus embraces them with tears.

The verse in the Bible that goes like this, “Jesus wept.”  That’s all there is to it.  Jesus wept.  Two seconds to memorize it!  John 11:35.  That’s the shortest verse in the Bible. 

What I want you to know though is this.  Jesus’ weeping is not a trivial matter.  There’s something very significant about the fact that Jesus wept.  He thought, “These people are grieving, they’re in despair and this is not what I made life to be.”  He entered into the pain of these people.  He feels it knowing full well in His mind that not five minutes into the future He’s going to raise this guy to life and the funeral was going to turn into a party. 

Jesus embraces dead things with the same anger and the same anguish that you feel.  For some of you that’s all you need to hear today.  Maybe you came here today with a whole truckload of dead things in your life.  You walk in here wondering is there any person anywhere who gives a rip about what I’m going through.  I want to tell you today there is.  Jesus embraces those dead things with the same anger and the same anguish that you feel.  But the good news is He doesn’t stop there. 

How did Jesus deal with dead things?

2.  Jesus exposes them for a purpose. 

He says, Take away the stone.  When Jesus gave that command Martha’s sense of propriety kicked in and she said, “Wait a second.  He’s been in there four days.”  That’s significant because Jewish folklore says that when a person died his spirit hovered around the body for up to three days.  If there’s going to be any kind of miracle, any kind of resurrection it’s going to take place inside of three days.  After three days, forget it.  The spirit moved on and it’s gone forever.  But beyond that you know that if you just leave a dead body lying around for four days it starts to smell.  That’s what Martha says.  She says, “Jesus!  Bear in mind.  He’s been in there four days.”  You don’t roll the stone off of old dead things like that. 

Jesus understands that for dead things to come to life they’ve got to be exposed.  They’ve got to be opened up.  You’ve got to take the stone away and face them for what they are and then they can be exposed to light and then they can be regenerated. 

That’s why we Christians are really big into confession and into repentance and into sharing our grief and our hurts and our dead things with other people in appropriate social settings.  That’s why we do that.  Because we know that you have to expose the dead things to bring some life to it.  This church is a safe place to expose those things.  We are all in the same boat.  We have all had to deal with dead things in our lives.

How does Jesus deal with dead things?  He embraces them with tears, He exposes them for a purpose, but He also does this and this is the biggie really…

3.  Jesus exhibits His glory in them.

He exhibits His glory.  This is the purpose of the entire situation.  When the news first came to Jesus that Lazarus was sick He said, “This sickness will not end in death.”  He didn’t say Lazarus wouldn’t go through death.  He said it wouldn’t end there.  But Jesus said this, This is all going down for the glory of God.  This whole situation is taking place so the glory of God can be displayed. 

Then when He approached the tomb and said, “Take that stone away,” and Martha objected, He said this, “Martha, didn’t I tell you that if you believed you’d see the glory of God?  Take the stone away.”  Then Jesus says, “Lazarus!  Come on down!  Lazarus come forth!”  In the original language he doesn’t really use much of a verb there.  Just “Lazarus!  Here!  Outside!  Front and center!”  Then in effect He said, “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my I present to you Exhibit A of the glory of God.  The dead man lives.”  That’s what Jesus loves to do with dead things.  Exhibit His glory in them and through them.

The glory of God really carries the idea of weightiness, heaviness.  It’s God just kind of throwing the sum total of who He is out on the table and saying, Get a load of this!  What He wants us to do is go, Wow!  That’s God’s glory.  That’s what God loves to do.  Make Himself heavy, make Himself weighty.  He wants to make Himself huge because Jesus knows and He said this, “If I can be lifted up both literally on the cross and figuratively, If I can be lifted up and shown to be huge and weighty and heavy, then I’ll draw all people to Myself.”  That’s what He loves to do. 

Often Jesus loves to make Himself heavy by resurrecting things, by healing things, by fixing things, by doing miracles.  He loves to do that.  He loves to resurrect dying relationships and dead hopes and dreams and even dead bodies sometimes.  He loves to heal people physically and emotionally.  He loves to fix problems.

But He doesn’t always do that.  I think we need to understand this.  One of the things He’s guaranteed to do when we bring Him our dead things, He’s guaranteed to exhibit His glory in them.  But, it’s His prerogative on how He does it.  It seems to me that just as often, Jesus chooses to exhibit His glory by giving us the strength and the perseverance and the courage to bear up under the load of that dead thing and live with it and deal with it.  To bear up with it.  Either way, it’s His choice. 

When we bring Him our dead things He either resurrects them and makes Himself huge that way, or He gives us the perseverance to bear up under them and makes Himself huge that way.  That’s what Jesus wants to do with the dead things you bring Him today.

What does Jesus do with dead things?  How does He deal with them?  He embraces them with tears, He exposes them for a purpose, He exhibits His glory in them and…

4.  Jesus engulfs them with love.

Those are kind of sweet words to me when that mummy appears at the door and Jesus says, “Now loosen and let him go.”  Unwrap that guy!  Let’s just remove anything that reminds us of the death that was here.  Let’s fully restore this man. 

I think it’s instructive here that Jesus Himself doesn’t loose and let Lazarus go.  And He certainly doesn’t say to Lazarus, Loose yourself and let yourself go.  He says to the people around them, Loose him and let him go.  I think it illustrates a principle of the kingdom and it’s this-- That restoration takes place in relationship.  It’s a family affair.  You get a lot of people around you to restore you and bring you back to wholeness.  You were never meant to be restored through self-help  but by others’ help.  It’s not a personal individual kind of thing.  It’s a family thing. 

I can see all these people surrounding this man and Jesus saying, Loosen and let him go get the death clothes off of his body and restore this man.  Joy breaks out and the funeral becomes a party and Lazarus was restored. 

What Jesus wants to do with your dead things is He wants to engulf them with love.  He wants to fill you with His presence on the inside and He wants to surround you with His people on the outside.  Then you’re really living.  Then you’re restored.

Finally what does Jesus do with dead things?  How does He deal with them?

5.  Jesus expects them to really live. 

When He’s gone to all this trouble to embrace them and expose them and exhibit His glory in them and engulf them with love He expects them to really live.  This is where our story diverges from Lazarus’ story.  Because Lazarus got his old life back.  That’s important.  Was he a changed man because of that?  Probably.  Did he fear death like he did in the past?  Probably not.  But Lazarus just got his old natural life back.  He came back into the same life of pain, hurt, difficulty.  He probably struggled with the same sin habits that he had before.  And, eventually, Lazarus died again.  I mean he is not still walking around Israel is he?  Lazarus just got his old life back. 

But when Jesus engulfs you with His new life you get a brand new life and He pretty much expects us to live a brand new life.  Something totally new and different.  That’s what He wants us to do. 

What’s a brand new life?  What’s it look like? 

I think a brand new life is when Jesus infuses you with His spirit and you start oozing out love and joy and peace and patience and kindness, the kinds of qualities that you didn’t have before.  I think brand new life is when you get in touch with the spiritual gift that Jesus imparts to you and instead of frittering your life away with trivial pursuits, you start employing that gift and seeing God change lives and loose people and let them go through you.  I think a brand new life is when every day you expose yourself to the nourishment of God’s word so that gradually every single facet of your person hood is brought into line with who Jesus made you to be. 

New life.  New life is when you embrace all that God wants to be for you in Jesus.  That’s the new life that Jesus wants us to live.  New life that He expects us to live. 

Believe and live is the theme of the gospel of John.  John 20:31 says  (John says) “I’ve written these things that you may believe in Jesus and by believing in Him have life.”  Those two words believe and live are used in the gospel of John more than in any other book of the Bible.  I just wrote a few of them out here just to see what kind of life that Jesus wants to give to us.  The Bible says “In Him was life and that life was the life of men. … Whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  It’s a different kind of life.  “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life even so the Son gives life to whom He is pleased to give it.  …  I’m the bread of life,” Jesus said “Whoever believes in Me streams of living water will flow from within him….  I came that they might have life and have it abundantly….  Jesus said to Martha, ‘I am the resurrection and the life.  It’s not an event.  It’s a person.  Do you believe this?’” 

Today you see a miracle and Jesus says “Do you believe in miracles?”  And more importantly “Do you believe in the miracle worker?”  If you do, Believe and live.  That’s what He wants you to do. 

I can’t leave this story of the raising of Lazarus without us dealing with the fact that Jesus raised this man from the dead.  Not in a figurative sense, but really.  Lazarus was dead and Jesus brought him back to life. 

The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever.  And the fact is that Jesus continues to raise people from the dead, not just in a figurative sense, but really.  If you look at church history you find that Jesus continued to raise people from the dead after the New Testament was finished and the last of the apostles died.  There is an account in John Wesley’s journal where he tells of raising a Mr. Meyrick from the dead.  And early Methodist billy Hibbard raised someone from the dead.  And literally hundreds of people are being raised from the dead today around the world in response to the prayers of Christians.  But what about here in America? 

I want you to watch the testimony of Dr. Chauncey Crandall, a well respected cardiologist here in America who raised a man from the dead. 

Prayer:

      Jesus, I just love it so much that You know how to weep with us, You know how to embrace our pain.  I also just love it Jesus that You’re huge.  You’re full of glory – You’re weighty.  And You make us say, “Wow!  That’s heavy!”  You engulf us with Your love and You show us how to live a brand new life.  I thank You that this is a church that looses people and lets them go.  And I thank you that you still raise people from the dead today.  We pray these things in Your name.  Amen. 

2-16-14 Sermon

There is no audio for today's sermon but the transcript is below. It was an excellent sermon and I'm still learning how to record on a new laptop!

God’s Secret to a Total Makeover

A New You for a New Year – Part 6

02-16-14 Sermon

“May the God who gives us peace make you holy in every way and keep your whole being—spirit, soul, and body—free from every fault at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Thessalonians 5:23 (TEV)

“Be made new in the attitude of your minds.”  Ephesians 4:23 (NIV)

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  Romans 12:2 (NIV)

C                                                                 : to make or become the same; to behave in a conventional way by accepting without question the customs, traditions and prevailing opinions of others. 

T                                                                : to change the condition, function, nature, character or personality. 

C                                                                  : to say the same thing God says.

R                                                                : to change the way you think.

 “Against you and you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.”  Psalm 51:4

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  1 John 1:9 (NIV)

Every Renovation begins with ________________________

“For the word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”  Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)

 “Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom imprisoned in iron chains of misery.  ‘Lord, help!’ they cried in their troubles.  And he saved them from their distress.  He led them from the darkest and deepest gloom.  He snapped their chains.  Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them, for he broke down their prison gates of bronze and he cut apart their bars of iron.”  Psalm 107:10-16

God isn’t asking you to                                                             a promise that______                                                                        . 

He is asking you to                                                a promise that                                                                                                                         .

“I am convinced that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it through to completion.”  Philippians 1:6 (GW)

My Faith Confessions

“I believe Jesus Christ died for my sins and rose again from the dead on the third day.” 

(1 Corinthians 15:3-4)

“I am crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”  (Galatians 2:20)

“I count myself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”  (Romans 6:1-14)

“I am a new creation in Christ; the old life is gone, a new life has begun.”  (2 Corinthians 5:17)

“The Son has set me free.  I am free indeed!”  (John 8:36)

“The Word of God is at work in me.”  (1 Thessalonians 2:13)

“My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit.”  (1 Corinthians 6:19)

“I am being transformed into Christ’s likeness with ever increasing glory.”  (2 Corinthians 3:18)

“I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.”  (Philippians 4:13)

“He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it.”  (Philippians 1:6)

“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”  (Romans 8:1)

“Nothing can ever separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus.”  (Romans 8:38-39)

“In all things God works for the good of those who love him.”  (Romans 8:28)

“God is faithful.  He will not let me be tempted beyond what I can bear.”  (1 Corinthians 10:13)

“He is able to keep me from falling.”  (Jude 1:24)

“Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world.”  (1 John 4:4)

“God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind.”  (2 Timothy 1:7)

“My light and momentary troubles are achieving for me an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”  (2 Corinthians 4:17)

“He is able to do immeasurably more than all I ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within me.”  (Ephesians 3:20)

“God is for me!  Who can be against me?”  (Romans 8:31)

God’s Secret to a Total Makeover

A New You for a New Decade – Part 6

02-16-14 Sermon

This morning I am finishing this series on A New You For a New Year.  The change that God wants to make in us – this new you for a new year – has to be more than just on the outside.  If it’s only on the outside, it’s really not going to make any difference.  Because if you’re annoying now, and you go on a diet to lose weight, you’re just going to be skinny and annoying when you’re done.  You’re just going to be a skinnier version of the old you.  There’s a change that God wants to make on the inside of us.  Because as wonderful and beautiful as we may become, the physical part of us, as we all know, is just not going to last.  We may think it is, we may wish it could, but it isn’t going to last.  It’s the character; it’s the inside that really does count.

And God wants to make the change in our lives from the inside out.  So that’s what we’re going to talk about today.  The total makeover of the person.

Let’s begin by looking at this verse, 1 Thessalonians 5:23.  The Bible says “May the God who gives us peace make you holy in every way and keep your whole being – spirit, soul, and body free from every fault at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  He says spirit, soul, and body.  He puts them in that order because it begins in the deepest level of our person and works its way out to the outer most extreme of the person.  Spirit, soul, and body.

Ephesians 4 – this will be sort of our key verse for the morning.  “Be made new in the attitude of your mind.”  It’s great to clean out the fridge and it’s really good to get all the junk food out of the pantry.  But what about the junk food that’s still in our heads, the lies that we still believe, the old tapes that we listen to, those empty values and the false perceptions that we built our lives on that are not true and that we no longer need to live with?  Those are the things that need to go so that we can be made new in the attitude of our minds.

Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  The transformation starts in the renewing of your mind, changing how you think.

We need to clarify some terminology so I want you to write some things down. 

Conform – to conform means to make or to become the same.  Not different, not new, but to make something to become the same or to behave in a conventional way by accepting, without question, the customs, traditions, and prevailing opinion of others.   It’s just going on about life and saying, “I guess this is ok because this is how everybody else is doing things.  This is the new normal.”  Paul is saying don’t live that way.  Don’t conform that way.  God wants us to stop and think about what we’re doing.

Then he goes on to say, don’t conform but be transformed.  Here’s what transformed means: Transformed means to change the condition, the function, the nature, the character or personality of something. 

So to conform is from the outside.  It means to try to fit into a mold.  But to transform is from the inside.  It means to change the nature and the character of something, to make something completely new.

So God is talking about a total new you from the inside.  Really becoming a new you for a new year.  It begins in how we think.  It’s not just somebody who looks different.  But it’s someone who speaks and thinks and acts differently.  A new you who’s taken a hundred eighty degree turn from the old way of living and is now walking in a whole new way of life. 

How does that happen?  I’m going to talk about a couple of things.  Two words I’m going to use this morning quite a bit.  They are words that are really uncomfortable for a lot of us to think about.  They make us feel defensive.  They make us feel uneasy.  Sometimes they make us feel guilty.  But we need to talk about them anyway because we’re going to turn those words on their heads.  But in the beginning we’ve just got to kind of look at them.

Here are the two words: confession and repentance.

The reason they make us feel uneasy is because we immediately go negative.  We immediately think of the guy with the sandwich board on, pointing his finger at us and telling us to stop doing whatever it is that we’re doing.  That’s what we think about when we think about confession and repentance.  We immediately go negative.

But if we get into what the words actually mean we find that they’re actually very positive, freeing, hope-filled words.  I want you to write this down. 

Confess means to say the same thing God says.  That’s what it means.  Confess doesn’t mean you’ve got your arm twisted behind your back and you say, Ok!  I give!  I give! 

No.  That’s not what confession is.  Confess means to say the same thing that God says.  Not arguing with him, but agreeing with him.  It can be positive or negative.  It can be confessing, saying what God says about what I did.  Or it can be confessing what God says about who he wants me to be.  Confession is just saying what God says.

Repent means to change the way you think.  Repent actually does not just mean to change what you do.  It means to change how you think.  So to repent is not just changing your behavior, because you can’t just change your behavior.  If all you work on is your behavior, it isn’t going to work.  You have to change your mind, you have to change the way you think.

Confession, saying what God says, leads to repentance, thinking the way God thinks.  If you want to think like God thinks then you’ve got to say the kinds of things that God says.  And saying what God says is what enables you to change your thinking, to learn to think differently.  That is what will change your behavior.  That is what will change the way you live. 

So confessing sin is just saying the same thing God says about my behavior and saying God you’re right.  What I did was not right. 

In fact, David in Psalm 51, his famous prayer of confession, this is what he says: “Against you and you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.”  So confessing sin is agreeing with God about behavior.

But if you stop there it’s not going to change anything.  While it is true that we do need to confess our sins, and while it is true we do need to change our ways, I don’t believe that confessing sin changes behavior.  I really don’t think it does.  It is necessary for forgiveness.  In fact the Bible says this in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”  If we confess he will forgive.  So confessing sin leads to forgiveness, but it doesn’t change behavior.

Does this sound anything like you?  I don’t know how many times I have said, “Lord, I did wrong.  I confess.  I’m sorry and I promise I’ll never do it again.”  Then two days later I’m back.  “God, I did it again, but I promise I’ll never do it again.  I’m so sorry.  Please forgive me.”  Then two days later I’m back: “God, I did it again.”  Am I the only person who has ever done that?  Elbow the person next to you and say, he’s talking about you! 

So we can wind up in this circle of guilt and get to the point where we either just can’t live with ourselves or we just get calloused to it and just give up all together. 

But there is another kind of confession that does lead to a change in our behavior.  It’s confessing your faith.  Confessing your faith.  Not just saying what God says about what you did, but saying what God says about who you are in Christ.  Making that your confession.  Because confession, saying what God says about you, leads to repentance.  It changes the way we think.  And that is the secret to a total makeover.  If all we do is focus on behavior, it is never going to happen.  Real change has to come from the inside out.

So when the Bible says, “Be made new in the attitude of your mind,” when the Bible says “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind,” God is reiterating the truth that every behavior begins with a thought.  Every behavior begins with thinking.  So if you want to change the way you act, you have to change the way you think.  And confession – saying what God says – changes how we think and leads us to repentance. 

When I confess my faith, I’m no longer focusing on what I once did.  Instead, when I confess my faith, I’m focusing on what I believe to be true, and how things could be, based on the Word of God.  Not thinking about all the wrong things.  I’m now redirecting my thoughts to focus on the right things.  I direct my energies in that way, according to the Word of God.

When a builder is building a building, he may use an instrument called a plumb line.  A plumb line is just a string with weight on the end of it.  The whole thing works off of gravity.  It’s very simple.  But it’s actually quite profound and has a profound influence on the integrity of the structure.  Because that plumb line, that straight string with a weight at the end, tells you based on the law of gravity, what is straight, what is perpendicular.  Then everything else has to live up to the standard of that plumb line.  If it doesn’t then the walls could be crooked and the building could fall over.  The integrity of that structure is at risk.  When the builder is satisfied that the walls are all in line with that plumb line he says that they are true.  That’s the word that’s used for something that is straight.  It is true.

In the makeover of our lives, God has given us a plumb line.  Something that is true.  Something that we can measure all of our thoughts, our decisions, our choices, our actions, our reactions, every challenge that we face, every question that we face, we can measure it against the standard truth of the Word of God and say how does this that I’m facing right now, how does this match up?  How does it compare to the standard of truth that I find in God’s Word?  Because then we’ll have a measurement of what is true and what is right.

So now we have to go back to our key verse here from Ephesians 4, “Be made new in the attitude of your minds.”  The word “made new” there, the Greek word, is actually better translated as “renovate.”  Anybody ever do a renovation on your house?  It probably took longer and cost more than you thought it would!  You know that any renovation has to begin with a demolition.  Before they can start building the new stuff they’ve got to tear out the old stuff. 

So every renovation begins with demolition.  The Word of God first demolishes the old ways.  It demolishes the old lies.  And God wants to demolish those old lies that we’ve been believing.  He wants to demolish the old tapes that we’ve been listening to in our heads, the things that people said about us that shaped how we saw ourselves from that moment going forward.  He wants to demolish those things.  He wants to demolish the old values and the old beliefs that have resulted in a crooked building that’s about to fall over.  He wants to tear all of those things out.  So the first step in being made new and being a new person for a new decade is the renovation.  Being renovated in the attitude of your mind. 

The Bible says this in Hebrews 4, “The word of God is living and active.  It is sharper than any double edged sword.  It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow.  It judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”  And the Word of God can smash any stronghold; it can break any chain.  It can uncover any lie if we will allow it to do its work. 

Have you ever seen how huge elephants can be tethered to a stake with a band around their ankle and a rather weak looking chain?  Have you ever wondered about why they don’t just break that chain and walk away? Well, it’s all about how a circus trainer trains an elephant.  He starts with the elephant when it is a baby.  He puts a shackle around its ankle and a chain on that shackle.  You’ve probably seen this in the zoo too.  The other end of that chain is hooked into an iron hook that’s set in concrete in the ground.  That little elephant, every time he tries to pull against that chain, it starts to rub against his ankle and he can’t break that chain.  He learns pretty quickly that he can only go as far as that chain.  That’s all that he’s going to be able to do because he’s chained to the ground.  As he grows and he’s still chained to that hook that’s in the concrete he just comes to believe, this is my life, this is all I can do.

When the elephant becomes full grown, the trainer can unhook that chain from the hook in the ground.  But because the elephant still feels the shackle around his ankle he thinks the chain is still attached to something.  He doesn’t realize that he’s free and he actually could go anywhere he wants to.  But instead, the elephant spends the rest of his life chained to nothing.  He spends the rest of his life believing a lie.  But if he knew the truth he would know that he is free.  That chain is no longer attached to anything. 

Just like that elephant, there are still chains that so many of us still believe are attached to something, that are still holding us back.  When in reality, the only power those chains have is the power that we continue to allow them to have.  Because we don’t realize that the Lord has already set us free.  “He whom the Son has set free is free indeed.”  We are free to go from those things if we will just get up and walk in that freedom.

Let me ask you.  What are the chains that are still keeping you tied to the past?  Is it guilt for something you did?  Is it regret for something you didn’t do?  Are there some old tapes still playing in your head – “I’m not good enough.  I’ve messed my life up too much.  I will never be able to do anything for God.  I’m not smart enough.  I’m not rich enough.  I’m not nice enough.  I’m not spiritual enough.  I’m not strong enough.”

I would just say, enough!  Enough of that!  You don’t have to believe those things any more.  You are not worthless.  You are priceless to God.  He gave the life of his Son for you.  You are priceless to him.  And he has made you free. 

Listen to what the Bible says about your chains, Psalm 107, “Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom imprisoned in iron chains of misery.  ‘Lord, help!’ they cried in their troubles.  And he saved them from their distress.  He led them from the darkest and deepest gloom.  He snapped their chains.  Let them praise the Lord for his great love and for the wonderful things he has done for them, for he broke down their prison gates of bronze and he cut apart their bars of iron.” 

The Lord has already set you free.  You are free indeed and you don’t have to live believing those lies.  You don’t have to live carrying guilt and condemnation anymore for the things you did or the things you failed to do.

Romans 8 and 2 Corinthians 5, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… [and] Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.  [Does anybody here belong to Christ?  Then you’re a new person.  That’s what the Bible says.  Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person.]  The old life is gone.  A new life has begun.  So don’t conform any longer to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”  Be made new in the attitude of your mind.  Don’t live by the old rules.  Don’t live according to those old lies any more.  The past is past.  Now it’s up to you to get up and walk in your freedom, to be made new, totally new in how you think.  Because when you know the truth, the truth will make you free.

So I put together some confessions of faith, to show us how to start doing this.  I put them on the back of your notes.  These are Scriptures that tell us what God thinks about us.  This is what God says about you.  Remember confession is saying what God says.  If this is what God says about you, then let it become what you say about you.  If this is what God thinks about your life then let it become what you think about your life. 

What I’m going to have us do is, I’m going to have us read all these aloud together.  To let them start to become the way we think.  These are the words of God about you.  These are powerful, life changing words.  So read them with power and let them change your life. I am going to have Peg project them on the wall one by one.

“I believe Jesus Christ died for my sins and rose again from the dead on the third day… 

I am crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me… I count myself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus… I am a new creation in Christ; the old life is gone, a new life has begun… The Son has set me free.  I am free indeed! … The Word of God is at work in me… 

My body is the temple of the Holy Spirit… I am being transformed into Christ’s likeness with ever increasing glory… I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength… He who began a good work in me will be faithful to complete it… There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… Nothing can ever separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus… In all things God works for the good of those who love him… God is faithful. He will not let me be tempted beyond what I can bear… He is able to keep me from falling… Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world… God has not given me a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind… My light and momentary troubles are achieving for me an eternal glory that far outweighs them all… He is able to do immeasurably more than all I ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within me… God is for me!  Who can be against me?

This is the Word of the Lord.  This is the Word of God.  This is what God says about you.  So let it be what you say about you.  Let this become your confession of faith and change the way you think and thereby change the way you live and truly make you into a new you.  Not just for a new year but for the rest of your life.

So confession leads to repentance.  These words, these truths can be the foundation on which you build a new life.  They can be the plumb line on which you build your new life.  So that every thought you have about yourself, about life, about your family, about your co-workers, about anything, you can always bring it around and say, how does that compare with the truth of my confession of faith?  You can build your life according to what the Word of God says.  Believing who he is, believing who you are according to his Word and then living like you believe those things are true.

So start every day by reading these things to yourself.  Put them someplace where you will always see them, where they’re always available.  So that, at any moment, when you are feeling any kind of doubt, read these words again.  When you are facing fear, read these words again.  When you are in confusion about a decision to make, read these words again.  Read them to yourself.  Read them to God.  Read them to the devil!  Let the water of the Word of God wash away all the junk and all the lies from the past.  This is what true repentance is about.  Because, as I said, if you just try to start with your behavior, you’re not going to make it.  Lasting change has to come from the inside and it all starts with God, about taking God at his Word.

Write this down on the front side of your notes.  This is very important.  God is not asking you to make a promise that you cannot keep.  You’ve tried that way too many times.  He’s not asking you to make a promise that you cannot keep.  God is asking you to receive a promise that only he can keep.  And God always keeps his promises.  When you confess your faith you are receiving God’s promises into your life and he keeps his promises.  When you confess your faith you are taking God at his Word. 

You can do that.  He loves you.  You have his Word on it.  He cares about your life.  You have his Word on it.  He has a plan and a purpose for you.  You have his Word on it.  He will meet all of your needs.  You have his Word on it.  Your sins are forgiven.  You have his Word on it. 

So take God at his Word and as you build your life on the Word of God, he will truly make you into a new person, a whole new person.  A total makeover from the inside out.  What God starts he will finish.

Look at this verse: “I am convinced [the Bible says] that God who began this good work in you will carry it through to completion.”

But let me warn you about something.  You can expect to be challenged.  Because you have an enemy who hates you.  His name is the devil.  He hates you and he doesn’t want you to be free.  So he will come along and rattle those chains.  He will start to whisper those old lies and try to bring doubt back into your mind.  He will try to remind you of your failures in the past and all the things you’ve done wrong and make you feel lousy and guilty about yourself.  When the devil comes along and tries to remind you of your past, you just remind him of his future!  And begin to confess your faith and say, no, that is not true.  This is true.  This is what the Word of God says about my life.  And begin to confess your faith to yourself, to God and to him.  Then start acting on that truth. 

Confessing, saying what God says, leads to repentance, thinking what God thinks.  Every behavior starts with a thought.  So as those thoughts change, you’ll find your behavior begins to change, and the old ways start to go away and they’ll be renewed and replaced by new ways.  And that will truly result in a new you for a new year.

Prayer:

As we turn to the Lord in prayer, let me ask you, what chains need to be broken in your life?  The Bible tells us “If you confess your sins he is faithful and just and will forgive you of your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness.”  By the authority of the Word of God I say to you, your sins are forgiven.  They’re forgiven!  It’s ok.  It’s forgiven.  It’s covered.  Just pray: “Father, I believe Jesus Christ died for my sins.  I believe he rose again from the dead.  And I receive your gift of forgiveness.  Father, I believe that I’m crucified with Christ because your Word says I am.  I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  Therefore I am a new creation in Christ.  The old life is gone and a new life has begun.  Father, I believe your Son has set me free.  And I am free indeed.  And Father, I believe that you began this good work in me and that you will be faithful to complete it.  So I make this confession now in the name of Jesus Christ and Lord, I ask you to give me strength to build my faith, to walk into the future that you have planned and designed for me, to hold on to your Word and to build my life on the truth of your Word.  I do this in your name, Lord Jesus.  Amen.