WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:01.600 Thanks for sharing those updates, Matt. 00:00:01.760 --> 00:00:03.200 Good morning, church. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:06.639 If it's your first time here, my name is Andrew. 00:00:06.719 --> 00:00:08.880 I'm one of the pastors here at CBC. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:20.000 In case you haven't been with us the last couple of weeks, we've been traveling through Paul's letter to the Ephesians, which has a lot to say about Jesus, about church, about unity. 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:32.479 We learn early in chapter two that we're saved by grace and faith through Jesus, and that because of his perfect plan, because of his rich mercy, we have opportunity to live in unity with God. 00:00:33.439 --> 00:00:34.960 We continue on to chapter three. 00:00:35.039 --> 00:00:49.359 We learned about how this isn't what it wasn't just a solo project, but that there's an expectation for the church to live together in unity, both Jews and Gentiles, everybody living not just unity with God, but unity with one another. 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:54.079 In chapter four, Paul begins to share with us hey, this is how this happens. 00:00:54.320 --> 00:01:04.480 Last week, Pastor John shared with us how God gave specific gifts, like the apostles, prophet, evangelist, pastor, teacher, for the sake of helping the church live out that unity. 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:16.000 And this week we're going to pick up the story in chapter 4, verse 17, where Paul helps us understand: hey, here's what we bring to the table as followers of Jesus when it comes to these conversations about unity. 00:01:16.239 --> 00:01:19.280 Let me share a story that might help you understand where I'm coming from. 00:01:19.519 --> 00:01:23.519 Some of you may not know, but my wife and I, we have two daughters. 00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:29.599 So if you if you see what that means, I am severely outgunned at home when it comes to making decisions. 00:01:30.799 --> 00:01:37.280 Like when it comes to making a decision about what we're gonna watch or what we're gonna do, I get outvoted every single time. 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:40.239 We're not watching Top Gun, we're watching Moana. 00:01:41.760 --> 00:01:46.719 And unless I'm providing candy or piggyback rides, my kids are not choosing my idea. 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:49.599 They're choosing whatever Brandy wants because that's what they love. 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:51.120 And I think they love her more. 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:56.079 If you ask Sophia, she'll probably tell you straight up she does. 00:01:56.400 --> 00:01:57.920 This is how she is. 00:01:58.959 --> 00:02:04.400 But before Brandy and I had kids, I had hopes and dreams of what this season would be like. 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:14.080 I'm quickly finding out I'm having to renew my expectations of what this particular moment of my life looks like based upon what's really true right now. 00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:24.000 That I was used to operating with this idea, I was used to operating one way in my life, but given this new world that I find myself in, I've got to figure out a new way. 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:30.319 And I think that's what Paul's beginning to help us understand here in the book of Ephesians, chapter four, that we've got to be renewed in our mind. 00:02:30.479 --> 00:02:32.800 If not, we'll be living in a world of discomfort. 00:02:33.199 --> 00:02:35.840 Says this in Ephesians chapter 4, beginning in verse 17. 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:38.560 If you got a Bible, if not, it'll be up on the screen. 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:46.800 Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do. 00:02:47.120 --> 00:02:56.800 In the futility of their minds, they're darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that's in them, due to their hardness of heart. 00:02:56.960 --> 00:03:03.199 They've become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every type of impurity. 00:03:03.520 --> 00:03:06.080 But this is not the way you learned in Christ. 00:03:06.400 --> 00:03:31.520 Assuming that you heard about him and you were taught in him as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. 00:03:32.719 --> 00:03:38.400 I don't know about you, that this feels like it's a little bit out of left field from reading the rest of the letter. 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:38.960 Right? 00:03:39.120 --> 00:03:47.599 We go from all this conversation of Jesus has done the work and it's really exciting, and now we're introduced to this moment where we've got to respond to that work of Jesus. 00:03:47.840 --> 00:03:51.680 And in that, Paul is essentially giving us three encouragements, and they're this. 00:03:51.759 --> 00:03:58.240 Number one, to put off the old self, two, to be renewed in the spirit of our mind, and three, to put on the new self. 00:03:58.319 --> 00:03:59.680 And that's what we're going to track through today. 00:03:59.759 --> 00:04:01.439 But would you join me in prayer? 00:04:02.639 --> 00:04:03.919 Jesus, thank you. 00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:10.000 God, that we have opportunity to meet with you and know you more clearly today. 00:04:10.240 --> 00:04:14.639 God, thank you that your word is still active and it still speaks to us in our lives. 00:04:14.719 --> 00:04:17.680 It's still relevant for the stuff that we're navigating right now. 00:04:18.000 --> 00:04:22.480 And so, Lord, would you help us to be open to your truth? 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:27.759 God, to put our lives into question and to submit them to the truth of you and who you are. 00:04:27.839 --> 00:04:32.000 And so, Jesus, we desperately need your grace, your spirit in that work. 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:36.000 Would you help us, God, to love you enough to listen? 00:04:36.959 --> 00:04:41.120 God, to love you enough to sacrifice time and attention this morning to understand you more. 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:43.839 And God, I thank you that in that you help us become more like you. 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:45.600 So, Lord, bless us today with your word. 00:04:45.759 --> 00:04:47.680 We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name. 00:04:47.920 --> 00:04:48.560 Amen. 00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:54.000 So the first thing He invites us to is to put off the old self. 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:59.839 Man, I don't know about you, but I really don't enjoy driving rental cars. 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:07.439 Not just because of the stress of borrowing something expensive, but because they always give me something brand new. 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:09.360 And here's why this is a problem. 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:17.439 After I drive a brand new car from the rental agency for a whole week, I gotta come home to my 22-year-old minivan. 00:05:19.040 --> 00:05:21.519 And that new car is like a spaceship. 00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:24.879 It's got amazing technology, it smells amazing. 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:28.160 I drive like I'm in Super Mario Kart when I'm in that car. 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:34.560 And then I come back home to my 22-year-old minivan, which is not like a spaceship. 00:05:34.800 --> 00:05:38.160 It doesn't look cool, it does not help me drive like Mario Kart. 00:05:38.720 --> 00:05:44.160 I become painfully aware of what has become wrong with the old when I step into the new. 00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:48.000 You know what I don't find myself saying when I get back into my car? 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:49.519 Like, you know what's overrated? 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:51.199 Like a backup camera. 00:05:51.759 --> 00:05:55.680 I don't find myself in the winter, you know what's overrated in minus 20 degrees? 00:05:55.839 --> 00:05:56.639 Heated seats. 00:05:56.720 --> 00:05:57.920 I don't do that. 00:05:58.879 --> 00:06:04.399 But in a similar way, Paul says, hey, you've got to be able to recognize in which the old way is lacking. 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:09.600 So Paul says, you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do. 00:06:10.000 --> 00:06:20.720 He's essentially saying to the Ephesians, hey, you can't keep operating with the same beliefs and values that you did before you knew Jesus because those values and those beliefs weren't based on the truth. 00:06:21.279 --> 00:06:25.279 When Paul's describing the Gentiles, he says, hey, their minds were futile. 00:06:25.680 --> 00:06:32.079 Their understanding was darkened, they were alienated from God because of their ignorance and their hearts were hardened. 00:06:33.120 --> 00:06:38.879 Man, those kind of people are in no place to give good answers to the big questions of life. 00:06:39.439 --> 00:06:46.959 They don't have clarity about what makes good things good, they don't have clarity about what makes bad things bad, they've got no wisdom about what the purpose of life is. 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:51.920 They're essentially shooting in the dark and choosing whatever feels best that day. 00:06:52.560 --> 00:06:59.920 And if that if what Paul says in verse 21 that truth is found in Jesus, then these people don't have the truth. 00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:09.040 The truth is that Jesus, the king of the universe, died on a cross to pay the penalty that our sinful old selves incur. 00:07:09.600 --> 00:07:20.319 At the way of the world leads to more sin, more death, and instead of allowing us to suffer the consequences of our sin, Jesus steps in and he pays the consequence for us. 00:07:20.879 --> 00:07:31.680 At the brokenness that humans have been trying to solve since the beginning of time, the questions that underscore all the big decisions of life, they find their resolution in Jesus. 00:07:32.319 --> 00:07:34.639 Man, that is the truth. 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:41.759 That is the deep thing that underlies every single question that every human has been trying to figure out since we've been here. 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:42.879 That is the truth. 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:47.199 And if that's the case, the church isn't playing make-believe, the world is. 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:54.319 So Paul says that, hey, now that you're in Christ, you can't keep playing by the old rules. 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:59.199 You can't keep trying to solve Christian questions with Ephesian answers. 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:02.879 You must put off your old self. 00:08:03.519 --> 00:08:13.439 Which tells us, hey, one of the most important things we can do as followers of Jesus, one of the most important responses we can have to the gospel is learning how to put off our old self. 00:08:14.079 --> 00:08:22.079 And whether we like it or not, for each one of us, there was a version of us that existed before Jesus became Lord of our lives. 00:08:22.639 --> 00:08:27.040 And that version of us came up with answers to life's big questions. 00:08:27.519 --> 00:08:33.279 And we created systems of observation and understanding to help us navigate the world around us. 00:08:33.360 --> 00:08:43.759 And Paul is beginning to make it clear to the Ephesians that whatever system you contrive to help you make sense of the world around you is insufficient unless Jesus is at the center. 00:08:44.559 --> 00:08:54.000 And unless we're willing to recognize that, unless we're going to take the time to push off of that, we may find ourselves in a moment where we are half in the kingdom and half out. 00:08:55.279 --> 00:09:01.759 We'll find ourselves in a moment where we're still looking for the way of the world and still trying to look for Jesus at the same time. 00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:17.759 And someone who's unwilling to recognize that, someone who's unwilling to let go of the way of the world is going to have tremendous difficulty being a part of a church where their purpose is to do that, to be a part of Jesus' way. 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:21.200 Here's how I think this plays out in some of our lives. 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:30.639 For some of us, we grew up in homes and communities where our parents taught us that financial security is the ultimate goal of life. 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:40.080 And as a Christian, there's going to be this moment where you realize that the ultimate goal of life is not to be financially secure, though it's not a bad thing and you should still aim for that. 00:09:40.320 --> 00:09:45.360 But the goal of life is to glorify God, enjoy Him forever, and make Him known. 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:54.720 At some point, there's going to come this moment where your desire to glorify God may come at odds with your desire to be financially secure. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:59.840 And in that moment, who's going to decide? 00:10:00.799 --> 00:10:03.039 Your old self or your new self? 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:08.000 That the same concept plays out to every area of life. 00:10:08.240 --> 00:10:11.840 At some point we're going to ask ourselves the question: hey, who's going to decide? 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:15.440 Is Jesus going to decide or is my upbringing going to decide? 00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:20.159 Will Jesus decide or will my trauma or my coping mechanisms decide? 00:10:20.399 --> 00:10:23.600 Will Jesus decide or are my politics going to decide? 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:36.799 Now, Paul helped the Ephesians understand 2,000 years ago, and I think he's trying to help us understand today that if we're going to enjoy unity with Jesus and each other, we must be committed to putting off the old self. 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:40.159 Church, I want to encourage us this morning. 00:10:41.120 --> 00:10:46.240 Man, it's possible that some of us haven't really grown in our relationship with Jesus. 00:10:47.039 --> 00:10:53.360 We come to church Sunday after Sunday and we go back to the same old, same old every Sunday night. 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:58.720 We feel spiritually empty by Wednesday, waiting for a recharge to come again on Sunday. 00:10:59.440 --> 00:11:04.080 Could it be that it's because we've been clinging to our old self and not casting it off? 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:15.360 Man, if you want to grow closer to Jesus today, there's gotta be a step one where we take a look at how we've been operating our life and recognize it as insufficient and push off. 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:24.480 And so the first thing Paul begins to make clear is hey, if we're gonna follow Jesus well, if we're gonna fight for unity with him and with each other, we've got to first commit to putting off the old self. 00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:29.360 The second thing we learn is this, we've got to be renewed in the spirit of our minds. 00:11:30.399 --> 00:11:38.879 Paul's able to identify, hey, it's one thing to start by putting off the old self, but it's another thing to be renewed in the spirit of your mind. 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:42.080 Man, this isn't the only time Paul's gonna make an invitation like this. 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:55.840 If you look right at other scriptures in Romans 12, 2, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 00:11:56.080 --> 00:11:57.440 Colossians 3 10. 00:11:57.600 --> 00:12:08.559 Don't lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. 00:12:08.799 --> 00:12:15.600 Philippians 2.5, have this mind amongst yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus. 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:25.360 It tells us that there's this important part of following Jesus, not just pushing off the old self, but letting God renew the version of you that exists now. 00:12:26.639 --> 00:12:32.720 Man, following Jesus isn't just about being saved by grace, it's about being shaped by it. 00:12:34.080 --> 00:12:43.200 It's about letting God shape the kind of person you are, which means giving God access to your thoughts and your attitudes and your impulses and your emotions. 00:12:43.440 --> 00:12:43.840 Dr. 00:12:43.919 --> 00:12:58.720 Martin Lloyd Jones describes it this way: This transformation is not simply a repair of minds, but it's a spirit-empowered, supernatural recreation of what the fall and sin has corrupted and distorted. 00:12:59.039 --> 00:13:09.919 This doesn't mean that fallen people are not as smart as Christians or that only Christians can know truth, but this transformation allows the new self to see the fingers of God in all of life. 00:13:10.159 --> 00:13:15.360 It's a new orientation towards the same world that both Christians and non-Christians live in. 00:13:15.679 --> 00:13:26.159 This does not mean that when the minds of sinful people are renewed, they automatically become more intelligent, but this spiritual renewal allows them to see the gross nature of sin and the glorious love of God. 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:30.879 The spirit transforms people from the inside to the outside. 00:13:31.200 --> 00:13:37.360 This new self lives in accordance with godliness, having been renewed by the power of the gospel. 00:13:38.639 --> 00:13:45.360 Renewing your mind is God allowing you to see things the way they really are for the first time. 00:13:45.840 --> 00:13:46.879 I'll give you an example. 00:13:46.960 --> 00:13:51.120 This looks like if you don't know, I am originally not from New England. 00:13:51.279 --> 00:13:52.960 I'm a New York, New Jersey boy. 00:13:53.120 --> 00:13:54.159 Go Nyx. 00:13:54.960 --> 00:13:55.440 Yeah. 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:02.879 But my wife and my daughter, they are all native New Englanders. 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:06.960 And every once in a while it becomes painfully clear that I'm not. 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:13.120 So when the Super Mario movie came out a few years ago, the girls started making fun of me because of the way I say Mario. 00:14:16.799 --> 00:14:19.120 The movie says he's a plumber from Brooklyn. 00:14:19.679 --> 00:14:21.919 Hey, I know plumbers from Brooklyn. 00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:24.320 They are Mario, not Mario. 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:29.840 I began to operate, hey, the rest of the world is wrong and I'm right. 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:34.879 But then Brandy said this line, she says, Hey, what's Mario's catch line? 00:14:36.080 --> 00:14:37.679 It's a me, Mario. 00:14:40.159 --> 00:14:41.840 You can't argue with that. 00:14:44.320 --> 00:14:50.399 All of a sudden I began to realize hey, it wasn't the rest of the world that was wrong, it was me. 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:53.919 Having confidence didn't mean I was right. 00:14:54.799 --> 00:15:02.320 And after acknowledging that my way was wrong, I began to try and train my brain to try and say Mario because that's what he intended. 00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:08.000 At some point, I've got to make the decision, hey, am I going to continue to sound dumb to all of New England? 00:15:08.399 --> 00:15:11.279 Or am I going to try and fix this and make sense? 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:24.320 In a similar way, once I recognize, hey, my old self was wrong, once we recognize, hey, the old map is insufficient, we have to begin training our way, ourselves, to operate based upon God's map. 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:32.879 Once we come to that clarity, hey, this is insufficient, we've got to begin getting acclimated to the way and the works and the wonders of God. 00:15:33.120 --> 00:15:34.960 And I think this happens in a couple ways. 00:15:35.039 --> 00:15:38.639 The first, I think it's it's becoming familiar with God's ways. 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:44.159 Man, it's hard to have your mind renewed if you don't know what's on God's mind. 00:15:45.200 --> 00:15:51.279 So we've got to become aware with the teachings of God and see how God has pursued the church for centuries. 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:54.480 The Bible is your number one resource for this. 00:15:54.799 --> 00:16:03.200 The Bible's not a big fortune paper cookie that randomly connects with the stuff of your life, it's a book about God's interaction with humanity. 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:08.879 Man, in the Bible, the main character is not you, it is God. 00:16:09.600 --> 00:16:15.360 And if that's the case, we've got to begin trying to read the book and begin answering these questions: who is God? 00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:17.360 What's important to him? 00:16:17.759 --> 00:16:20.320 And how do I relate to that kind of God? 00:16:21.279 --> 00:16:26.320 And when you do that, you begin to get real answers for the questions of your life. 00:16:26.639 --> 00:16:38.799 You begin to see that God's goal is to restore us to good and holy relationship with him, to help us get back to doing the thing which we were made to do, which is to love and enjoy and glorify him forever. 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:48.480 I mean, if that's the case, if that's what I begin to read in the scripture, I can begin to realize, hey, if that was God's plan, and it's worth making it my plan too. 00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:53.759 So I ask you, would you familiarize yourself with the map? 00:16:54.159 --> 00:16:59.840 And if you want to be renewed, would you take advantage of the one greatest resource that God has given you? 00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:11.599 Read scripture, get into it, read church history, enjoy wonderful sermons, listen to great testimonies, grasp the knowledge of God and see how it begins to shape your ways. 00:17:11.920 --> 00:17:15.599 Man, we've got plenty of Bible study classes that happen here at 10 a.m. 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:16.079 on Sunday. 00:17:16.160 --> 00:17:18.720 We've got plenty of ways to begin that kind of conversation. 00:17:18.960 --> 00:17:24.480 But would you take the time to value God's map and God's way of doing things? 00:17:24.799 --> 00:17:34.319 The second thing that not only are we going to uh become a uh understand God's way of doing things, but second, we've got to acquire the taste of God's ways. 00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:41.440 Unfortunately, renewing your mind is not a one-time thing, it takes continued practice. 00:17:41.759 --> 00:17:43.200 Let me get nerdy for a second. 00:17:43.279 --> 00:17:45.599 I've come to realize that's one of my catchphrases now at the church. 00:17:45.759 --> 00:17:47.839 Like, oh, Andrew's getting nerdy. 00:17:47.920 --> 00:17:49.519 I'm sorry, buckle up. 00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:56.000 In the Greek, this word to be renewed is a present passive participle. 00:17:56.400 --> 00:17:58.319 I say exciting stuff, folks. 00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:03.200 If you're me, there's a half hour that happened earlier this week where I was like, this is great. 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:05.519 But here's a Spark Notes version. 00:18:06.960 --> 00:18:11.359 This means that the process is ongoing and not complete yet. 00:18:12.880 --> 00:18:18.079 That means that if you're renewed today, there's a chance you're gonna need renewal tomorrow. 00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:23.839 That if you're renewed today, there's a chance in a couple months from now you're gonna need to be renewed again. 00:18:24.319 --> 00:18:25.119 Can I tell you something? 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:26.720 That's not bad. 00:18:27.200 --> 00:18:31.599 What if renewal gives you an opportunity to be at the bench with the workmen? 00:18:32.079 --> 00:18:40.480 What if renewal gives you opportunity to sit in the hands of the master a little bit more and become a little bit more acquainted to his voice and his sound and how he works? 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:47.119 When a situation arises, we've got this moment where we've got to ask ourselves, will I take God's way or will I take the worldly way? 00:18:47.279 --> 00:18:53.680 And even if you don't like it, there's this moment of practicing it over and over again to see if God can continue to shape you. 00:18:54.319 --> 00:19:06.400 If God is the one who designed you, if he wired your soul to have joy in him, man, wouldn't it make sense that when we do the things that he loves, our souls find joy in it? 00:19:07.119 --> 00:19:16.160 Wouldn't it make sense that if God made you for relationship with him, when you do the things that put you in relationship with him, it feels good. 00:19:16.400 --> 00:19:18.960 It gives you joy, it gives you peace. 00:19:19.279 --> 00:19:20.240 Let me give you an example. 00:19:21.359 --> 00:19:26.000 I used to be a 28 sugars and six creams kind of guy when I drank my coffee. 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:27.599 Some of y'all are like that. 00:19:27.680 --> 00:19:30.480 I've seen your coffees and the iced coffee, it's wild. 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:33.680 A little bit of coffee with the rest of your cream. 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:39.200 I think when God was creating things that humans love, though, he made black coffee. 00:19:39.839 --> 00:19:49.920 It took a little while to get used to the taste, but there was this moment where I had to work at a Barnes and Noble's and they asked us to taste all the different black coffees so we could describe them to our customers. 00:19:50.240 --> 00:19:57.039 Can I tell you, I began to realize there was a whole world of flavor that I covered up with cream and sugar. 00:19:57.680 --> 00:19:59.119 And it took a little while. 00:19:59.279 --> 00:20:00.400 At first I didn't like it. 00:20:00.480 --> 00:20:07.440 I had to dial back some of the creams, but eventually it got to the point where I could only, only love and enjoy black coffee. 00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:12.480 And once I did, there is no going back unless it's pumpkin spice season. 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:23.599 But in a similar way, right, it took time to acquire the taste of something that was good and rich and beautiful and healthy. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:28.720 And in a similar way, you've got to learn to set your appetite on God's way. 00:20:29.359 --> 00:20:33.920 And in a broken world, doing things God's way is an acquired taste. 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:44.799 And the more you give yourself opportunity to practice it, not just to be renewed in your mind, but to practice it in your actions, you begin to realize the beauty of what it means to follow Jesus. 00:20:45.200 --> 00:20:51.920 And so as you look through the scripture, you're going to find a thousand and one opportunities to find what spiritual renewal looks like. 00:20:52.160 --> 00:20:56.799 Read the one-another scriptures in the New Testament and just pick one and try it this week. 00:20:57.039 --> 00:21:03.200 Read the laws and the wisdom literature to see what holiness-shaped people look like before the cross. 00:21:03.519 --> 00:21:09.359 Read the stories of the kings and the judges and to see how to practice holiness as you lead other people. 00:21:09.519 --> 00:21:14.960 Read the gospels and see how Jesus invited people how to practice living with Him now. 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:24.799 If we're gonna be more like Jesus, if we're gonna let grace take the shape of our lives, then we've got to begin giving ourselves opportunities to practice it now. 00:21:25.359 --> 00:21:35.359 The third and last thing is this is that Paul encouraged them to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. 00:21:35.839 --> 00:21:44.400 And then Paul spends verses 25 to chapter 5, verse 20, listing some ways of what the new self looks like. 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:49.839 And I don't have time to read the entire passage now, so I'm kind of gonna fly through some of them here quickly. 00:21:50.160 --> 00:21:53.599 But this is how he describes renewed people. 00:21:54.079 --> 00:21:56.960 Says in verse 25 that they're truth seekers. 00:21:57.440 --> 00:21:59.599 Says that they're able to be angry but not. 00:22:00.000 --> 00:22:00.559 They're not sin. 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:02.640 They're not robbers, but contributors. 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:05.359 They're not bad talkers, but they're encouragers. 00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:06.880 They're not bitter or angry. 00:22:07.039 --> 00:22:09.359 They're kind, forgiving, and tenderhearted. 00:22:09.519 --> 00:22:11.440 They're not sexually immoral or covetous. 00:22:11.519 --> 00:22:12.799 They're pure of speech. 00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:14.640 They're exposers of darkness. 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:15.839 They're not drunk. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:16.799 They're singers. 00:22:16.960 --> 00:22:17.680 I mean, I don't know. 00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:19.279 That one's snuck in there, but I love it. 00:22:19.359 --> 00:22:20.079 They sing. 00:22:21.039 --> 00:22:23.759 They're submissive to one another. 00:22:25.279 --> 00:22:29.039 Man, this is a great list of what someone looks like. 00:22:29.920 --> 00:22:40.480 If you're like me, though, you read this and you begin to say, hey, Paul, remember back in verse 2 and chapter 2 when you were saying, hey, you're saved by grace and faith, not the result of works? 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:46.720 Why are all of a sudden you barking out all these commands about how I should live my life and what the Christian life looks like? 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:52.559 And I think Paul is making it clear, hey, this is what it looks like to be shaped by grace. 00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:56.480 That if you're going to believe in Jesus, it can't just live here. 00:22:56.559 --> 00:22:58.000 It's got to live here. 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:01.279 It's got to have some effect on your life. 00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:03.440 Man, I don't know about you. 00:23:04.240 --> 00:23:11.680 I'd give anything to have 20 of these kind of people around me who fit those descriptions of someone who's been shaped by grace. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:15.920 Man, any workplace would kill to have a hundred people who look like that. 00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:22.240 Any Thanksgiving dinner would kill to have one or two family members that look like that present at the table. 00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:23.440 Why? 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:30.799 Because when you put on the new self, you get to show off the likeness of God. 00:23:33.039 --> 00:23:37.200 Man, and that that's a beautiful thing for a world that seems to be lacking it often. 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:44.720 You're here today because somebody else showed off the likeness of God to you. 00:23:46.079 --> 00:23:49.680 When they allowed God to renew them from the inside out. 00:23:50.720 --> 00:23:53.599 And which makes something painfully clear. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:59.680 One of the most effective ways of helping people know Jesus is by letting Him renew you. 00:24:08.960 --> 00:24:12.960 The most important ministry of the church is renewed people. 00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:27.279 Better than any sermon I'll preach, better than any song we'll ever sing, letting Jesus transform you all the way down to your attitudes and impulses is the thing that God can use to help the world see the likeness of God. 00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:37.839 Man, so if you want your work to see Jesus and know what Jesus looks like, don't go to Bible school and become a pastor. 00:24:38.480 --> 00:24:40.559 Let God renew you today. 00:24:41.039 --> 00:24:43.200 Let God renew you in that place. 00:24:43.359 --> 00:24:52.720 There are people who have old and dying selves that are in need of renewal in your sphere of influence, and all they need is you to be your renewed self in front of them. 00:24:54.000 --> 00:24:58.160 They need to see how Christ renews your way of communicating. 00:24:58.559 --> 00:25:02.240 They need to see the ways in which Christ renews your heart, heart. 00:25:02.400 --> 00:25:05.359 They need to hear it in the way you apologize when you do wrong. 00:25:05.519 --> 00:25:08.960 They need to see it in the things you post and like on social media. 00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:14.480 So I beg you, Christian, put on your renewed self. 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:23.440 If there's no evidence of renewal happening in our lives, then we've got to ask ourselves the question: do we really love Jesus or not? 00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:28.880 We can't settle for Christianity be an intellectual exercise. 00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:33.759 It's got to move its way into our activities and behaviors and how we walk in this world. 00:25:34.480 --> 00:25:37.440 Jesus didn't die so you could believe good things. 00:25:37.759 --> 00:25:39.599 He died so you could live. 00:25:39.839 --> 00:25:41.680 And so don't waste his death. 00:25:41.920 --> 00:25:42.720 Respond well. 00:25:42.880 --> 00:25:45.039 Let him put on the new self in you. 00:25:45.359 --> 00:25:50.240 As we get ready to close, maybe you're here today and you're saying to yourself, hey, Andrew, that sounds good and all. 00:25:50.480 --> 00:25:51.440 But how do I do this? 00:25:51.519 --> 00:25:52.880 How do I let Christ renew me? 00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:55.119 First, number one, would you be honest? 00:25:55.440 --> 00:26:01.279 One of the most important questions we can ask ourselves is, hey, am I actually devoted to Jesus? 00:26:01.599 --> 00:26:03.839 Do I really believe that I need his grace? 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:07.279 Do I believe that I've got sin that I actually might need saving from? 00:26:07.440 --> 00:26:14.720 Do I believe that Jesus' death on the cross allows his spirit to make me new, like Paul was talking about all those years ago? 00:26:15.359 --> 00:26:21.039 Ultimately, we've got to ask ourselves regularly, do I actually believe this? 00:26:22.240 --> 00:26:24.319 Man, can I tell you? 00:26:25.519 --> 00:26:32.000 And I've seen it in the lives of so many people, it's that honest question that things finally begin to change for people. 00:26:33.359 --> 00:26:41.920 Can I tell you, as someone who played Christian for a long time before actually becoming one, that that kind of question changes everything? 00:26:43.039 --> 00:26:52.559 At those honest moments began to help me realize that I couldn't even ask Jesus for help until I realized I've been lying to myself about my faith and not really taking it seriously. 00:26:53.039 --> 00:26:56.480 That I was lying about, hey, my faith really mattering outside of a Sunday. 00:26:56.559 --> 00:27:01.440 And once I became clear with that, hey, I don't know if I buy this or not, that's when God really began meeting me. 00:27:01.680 --> 00:27:08.880 Once I put down the games and the antics, and so I asked you, would you begin with that moment of honesty and saying, hey, do I believe this? 00:27:09.200 --> 00:27:12.640 And in that, I believe God can help renew us from that place. 00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:15.519 The second thing to practice is make it regular. 00:27:15.839 --> 00:27:20.400 Paul describes renewal isn't a one-time thing, but we've got to make it regular. 00:27:20.799 --> 00:27:23.119 So would you put it on your calendar? 00:27:23.839 --> 00:27:28.720 For me, I actually have to put things in my calendar that are part of that process of God renewing me. 00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:37.119 When I used to be on social media, I used to take a social media fast every quarter because I quickly realized that that was one of the places that was hardest for me to be renewed. 00:27:37.279 --> 00:27:42.000 And so literally on my calendar, once a quarter, it would pop up and say, hey, take a week off, Bucko. 00:27:42.559 --> 00:27:45.119 You've got to find other things to give your mind to. 00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:48.480 Plan an annual treat, plan a mid-course correction. 00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:54.160 If we don't prioritize it in our calendar, in our time, renewal won't happen. 00:27:54.400 --> 00:27:55.759 We have to be active with it. 00:27:55.839 --> 00:27:57.680 We can't be passive with it. 00:27:58.319 --> 00:28:00.240 Third thing, make it easy. 00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:01.519 Start small. 00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:02.960 You're not going to be renewed. 00:28:03.039 --> 00:28:05.920 You don't restore a car in one garage session. 00:28:06.000 --> 00:28:06.880 It takes time. 00:28:07.039 --> 00:28:09.920 So start with some small fixes you can make in your life. 00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:15.039 Start with some small questions about where Jesus can renew you and give him access to those places. 00:28:15.200 --> 00:28:17.200 You can start with some easy questions. 00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:19.119 Here's two I ask myself each night. 00:28:19.279 --> 00:28:21.519 Where did I feel close to God today? 00:28:21.599 --> 00:28:23.279 And where did I feel far? 00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:35.440 And in those two questions each night, which historically Christians have been asking those for centuries now, in those two questions of examining my life, I can find those places that I need renewal still. 00:28:36.079 --> 00:28:38.240 Another one, don't do it alone. 00:28:38.559 --> 00:28:43.359 Man, find friends that you can experience renewal with and be vulnerable with. 00:28:43.839 --> 00:28:52.480 Find people who can track your life and know your story and can speak honestly into your life when they see you slipping back into the old self. 00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:57.920 Find someone who can ask you the hard question, hey, what's driving this mode, what's motivating this decision here? 00:28:58.160 --> 00:29:01.440 Is it your old way of looking at things or is it Jesus' way? 00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:13.680 I mean, it doesn't matter if this is the first time you realize you need renewal or the thousandth time, if you begin to say yes to Jesus and let him have your work, had work in you, you can see God doing amazing and wonderful things. 00:29:14.240 --> 00:29:23.200 I pray, church, as we walk into this, man, would Cranston be pleasantly surprised by renewed Christians walking around? 00:29:24.160 --> 00:29:32.640 Would our workplaces, would our families be blessed because we took the time to allow God to renew us and shape us and mold us? 00:29:32.880 --> 00:29:44.720 And maybe, maybe, maybe that when people who are hungry for heaven right now, people who want to see the kingdom of God at work, when they take a look at our lives, they get a small taste of what heaven looks like. 00:29:45.200 --> 00:29:49.119 And it doesn't have to be fancy, it doesn't have to be some grand event. 00:29:49.759 --> 00:29:51.920 It's just watching the way you work. 00:29:52.880 --> 00:29:57.359 It's watching the way you respond to your kids, it's watching the way you respond in a text message. 00:29:57.519 --> 00:30:00.960 It's letting Jesus have those areas of your life as well. 00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:04.480 That renewal becomes amazingly clear for the world around us. 00:30:16.960 --> 00:30:18.319 Jesus, we love you. 00:30:21.200 --> 00:30:23.759 God, we admit we need renewing. 00:30:25.200 --> 00:30:26.720 God, we admit we're broken. 00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:33.519 We admit that our ways of trying to sort this stuff out haven't gone so great on our own, and Lord, ultimately we need you. 00:30:35.039 --> 00:30:36.720 So God, would you help us? 00:30:38.240 --> 00:30:42.960 Would you do the work that only you could do by your death on the cross, which is save us from our sin? 00:30:43.039 --> 00:30:45.519 And in doing so, help us live for the first time. 00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:48.640 So Lord, would you would you walk with us today? 00:30:48.799 --> 00:30:53.440 Would you gently as you do put your finger on those things that need renewing? 00:30:53.759 --> 00:30:58.640 God, would you help us have those honest moments of reflection to say, do we really buy into this or not? 00:30:58.799 --> 00:31:02.559 And in doing so, would we come to clarity about what it means to follow you? 00:31:02.799 --> 00:31:05.200 And so, Lord, as we go from this place, would you bless us? 00:31:05.440 --> 00:31:06.240 Would you lead us? 00:31:06.400 --> 00:31:07.279 Would you guide us? 00:31:07.519 --> 00:31:08.880 Lord, would you renew us? 00:31:09.039 --> 00:31:10.319 We love you and we praise you. 00:31:10.400 --> 00:31:11.200 In Jesus' name. 00:31:11.440 --> 00:31:12.079 Amen. 00:31:13.440 --> 00:31:14.960 All right, church, be blessed. 00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:15.839 Have a great week. 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:18.240 Stay cool, and we'll see you next week. 00:31:18.400 --> 00:31:19.200 God bless.