SPEAKER_00: Thanks for sharing those updates, Matt.
SPEAKER_00: Good morning, church.
SPEAKER_00: If it's your first time here, my name is Andrew.
SPEAKER_00: I'm one of the pastors here at CBC.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: We continue on to chapter three.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: In chapter four, Paul begins to share with us hey, this is how this happens.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Let me share a story that might help you understand where I'm coming from.
SPEAKER_00: Some of you may not know, but my wife and I, we have two daughters.
SPEAKER_00: So if you if you see what that means, I am severely outgunned at home when it comes to making decisions.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: We're not watching Top Gun, we're watching Moana.
SPEAKER_00: And unless I'm providing candy or piggyback rides, my kids are not choosing my idea.
SPEAKER_00: They're choosing whatever Brandy wants because that's what they love.
SPEAKER_00: And I think they love her more.
SPEAKER_00: If you ask Sophia, she'll probably tell you straight up she does.
SPEAKER_00: This is how she is.
SPEAKER_00: But before Brandy and I had kids, I had hopes and dreams of what this season would be like.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: If not, we'll be living in a world of discomfort.
SPEAKER_00: Says this in Ephesians chapter 4, beginning in verse 17.
SPEAKER_00: If you got a Bible, if not, it'll be up on the screen.
SPEAKER_00: Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: They've become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every type of impurity.
SPEAKER_00: But this is not the way you learned in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And in that, Paul is essentially giving us three encouragements, and they're this.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And that's what we're going to track through today.
SPEAKER_00: But would you join me in prayer?
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, thank you.
SPEAKER_00: God, that we have opportunity to meet with you and know you more clearly today.
SPEAKER_00: God, thank you that your word is still active and it still speaks to us in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: It's still relevant for the stuff that we're navigating right now.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Lord, would you help us to be open to your truth?
SPEAKER_00: God, to put our lives into question and to submit them to the truth of you and who you are.
SPEAKER_00: And so, Jesus, we desperately need your grace, your spirit in that work.
SPEAKER_00: Would you help us, God, to love you enough to listen?
SPEAKER_00: God, to love you enough to sacrifice time and attention this morning to understand you more.
SPEAKER_00: And God, I thank you that in that you help us become more like you.
SPEAKER_00: So, Lord, bless us today with your word.
SPEAKER_00: We love you and we praise you in Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So the first thing He invites us to is to put off the old self.
SPEAKER_00: Man, I don't know about you, but I really don't enjoy driving rental cars.
SPEAKER_00: Not just because of the stress of borrowing something expensive, but because they always give me something brand new.
SPEAKER_00: And here's why this is a problem.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And that new car is like a spaceship.
SPEAKER_00: It's got amazing technology, it smells amazing.
SPEAKER_00: I drive like I'm in Super Mario Kart when I'm in that car.
SPEAKER_00: And then I come back home to my 22-year-old minivan, which is not like a spaceship.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't look cool, it does not help me drive like Mario Kart.
SPEAKER_00: I become painfully aware of what has become wrong with the old when I step into the new.
SPEAKER_00: You know what I don't find myself saying when I get back into my car?
SPEAKER_00: Like, you know what's overrated?
SPEAKER_00: Like a backup camera.
SPEAKER_00: I don't find myself in the winter, you know what's overrated in minus 20 degrees?
SPEAKER_00: Heated seats.
SPEAKER_00: I don't do that.
SPEAKER_00: But in a similar way, Paul says, hey, you've got to be able to recognize in which the old way is lacking.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul says, you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: When Paul's describing the Gentiles, he says, hey, their minds were futile.
SPEAKER_00: Their understanding was darkened, they were alienated from God because of their ignorance and their hearts were hardened.
SPEAKER_00: Man, those kind of people are in no place to give good answers to the big questions of life.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: They're essentially shooting in the dark and choosing whatever feels best that day.
SPEAKER_00: And if that if what Paul says in verse 21 that truth is found in Jesus, then these people don't have the truth.
SPEAKER_00: The truth is that Jesus, the king of the universe, died on a cross to pay the penalty that our sinful old selves incur.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Man, that is the truth.
SPEAKER_00: That is the deep thing that underlies every single question that every human has been trying to figure out since we've been here.
SPEAKER_00: That is the truth.
SPEAKER_00: And if that's the case, the church isn't playing make-believe, the world is.
SPEAKER_00: So Paul says that, hey, now that you're in Christ, you can't keep playing by the old rules.
SPEAKER_00: You can't keep trying to solve Christian questions with Ephesian answers.
SPEAKER_00: You must put off your old self.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And that version of us came up with answers to life's big questions.
SPEAKER_00: And we created systems of observation and understanding to help us navigate the world around us.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Here's how I think this plays out in some of our lives.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: But the goal of life is to glorify God, enjoy Him forever, and make Him known.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And in that moment, who's going to decide?
SPEAKER_00: Your old self or your new self?
SPEAKER_00: That the same concept plays out to every area of life.
SPEAKER_00: At some point we're going to ask ourselves the question: hey, who's going to decide?
SPEAKER_00: Is Jesus going to decide or is my upbringing going to decide?
SPEAKER_00: Will Jesus decide or will my trauma or my coping mechanisms decide?
SPEAKER_00: Will Jesus decide or are my politics going to decide?
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Church, I want to encourage us this morning.
SPEAKER_00: Man, it's possible that some of us haven't really grown in our relationship with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We come to church Sunday after Sunday and we go back to the same old, same old every Sunday night.
SPEAKER_00: We feel spiritually empty by Wednesday, waiting for a recharge to come again on Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: Could it be that it's because we've been clinging to our old self and not casting it off?
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: The second thing we learn is this, we've got to be renewed in the spirit of our minds.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Man, this isn't the only time Paul's gonna make an invitation like this.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Colossians 3 10.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Philippians 2.5, have this mind amongst yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Man, following Jesus isn't just about being saved by grace, it's about being shaped by it.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Dr.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: It's a new orientation towards the same world that both Christians and non-Christians live in.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: The spirit transforms people from the inside to the outside.
SPEAKER_00: This new self lives in accordance with godliness, having been renewed by the power of the gospel.
SPEAKER_00: Renewing your mind is God allowing you to see things the way they really are for the first time.
SPEAKER_00: I'll give you an example.
SPEAKER_00: This looks like if you don't know, I am originally not from New England.
SPEAKER_00: I'm a New York, New Jersey boy.
SPEAKER_00: Go Nyx.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: But my wife and my daughter, they are all native New Englanders.
SPEAKER_00: And every once in a while it becomes painfully clear that I'm not.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: The movie says he's a plumber from Brooklyn.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, I know plumbers from Brooklyn.
SPEAKER_00: They are Mario, not Mario.
SPEAKER_00: I began to operate, hey, the rest of the world is wrong and I'm right.
SPEAKER_00: But then Brandy said this line, she says, Hey, what's Mario's catch line?
SPEAKER_00: It's a me, Mario.
SPEAKER_00: You can't argue with that.
SPEAKER_00: All of a sudden I began to realize hey, it wasn't the rest of the world that was wrong, it was me.
SPEAKER_00: Having confidence didn't mean I was right.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: At some point, I've got to make the decision, hey, am I going to continue to sound dumb to all of New England?
SPEAKER_00: Or am I going to try and fix this and make sense?
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And I think this happens in a couple ways.
SPEAKER_00: The first, I think it's it's becoming familiar with God's ways.
SPEAKER_00: Man, it's hard to have your mind renewed if you don't know what's on God's mind.
SPEAKER_00: So we've got to become aware with the teachings of God and see how God has pursued the church for centuries.
SPEAKER_00: The Bible is your number one resource for this.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Man, in the Bible, the main character is not you, it is God.
SPEAKER_00: And if that's the case, we've got to begin trying to read the book and begin answering these questions: who is God?
SPEAKER_00: What's important to him?
SPEAKER_00: And how do I relate to that kind of God?
SPEAKER_00: And when you do that, you begin to get real answers for the questions of your life.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: So I ask you, would you familiarize yourself with the map?
SPEAKER_00: And if you want to be renewed, would you take advantage of the one greatest resource that God has given you?
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Man, we've got plenty of Bible study classes that happen here at 10 a.m.
SPEAKER_00: on Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: We've got plenty of ways to begin that kind of conversation.
SPEAKER_00: But would you take the time to value God's map and God's way of doing things?
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, renewing your mind is not a one-time thing, it takes continued practice.
SPEAKER_00: Let me get nerdy for a second.
SPEAKER_00: I've come to realize that's one of my catchphrases now at the church.
SPEAKER_00: Like, oh, Andrew's getting nerdy.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry, buckle up.
SPEAKER_00: In the Greek, this word to be renewed is a present passive participle.
SPEAKER_00: I say exciting stuff, folks.
SPEAKER_00: If you're me, there's a half hour that happened earlier this week where I was like, this is great.
SPEAKER_00: But here's a Spark Notes version.
SPEAKER_00: This means that the process is ongoing and not complete yet.
SPEAKER_00: That means that if you're renewed today, there's a chance you're gonna need renewal tomorrow.
SPEAKER_00: That if you're renewed today, there's a chance in a couple months from now you're gonna need to be renewed again.
SPEAKER_00: Can I tell you something?
SPEAKER_00: That's not bad.
SPEAKER_00: What if renewal gives you an opportunity to be at the bench with the workmen?
SPEAKER_00: 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?
SPEAKER_00: 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?
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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?
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: It gives you joy, it gives you peace.
SPEAKER_00: Let me give you an example.
SPEAKER_00: I used to be a 28 sugars and six creams kind of guy when I drank my coffee.
SPEAKER_00: Some of y'all are like that.
SPEAKER_00: I've seen your coffees and the iced coffee, it's wild.
SPEAKER_00: A little bit of coffee with the rest of your cream.
SPEAKER_00: I think when God was creating things that humans love, though, he made black coffee.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Can I tell you, I began to realize there was a whole world of flavor that I covered up with cream and sugar.
SPEAKER_00: And it took a little while.
SPEAKER_00: At first I didn't like it.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And once I did, there is no going back unless it's pumpkin spice season.
SPEAKER_00: But in a similar way, right, it took time to acquire the taste of something that was good and rich and beautiful and healthy.
SPEAKER_00: And in a similar way, you've got to learn to set your appetite on God's way.
SPEAKER_00: And in a broken world, doing things God's way is an acquired taste.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Read the one-another scriptures in the New Testament and just pick one and try it this week.
SPEAKER_00: Read the laws and the wisdom literature to see what holiness-shaped people look like before the cross.
SPEAKER_00: Read the stories of the kings and the judges and to see how to practice holiness as you lead other people.
SPEAKER_00: Read the gospels and see how Jesus invited people how to practice living with Him now.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And then Paul spends verses 25 to chapter 5, verse 20, listing some ways of what the new self looks like.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: But this is how he describes renewed people.
SPEAKER_00: Says in verse 25 that they're truth seekers.
SPEAKER_00: Says that they're able to be angry but not.
SPEAKER_00: They're not sin.
SPEAKER_00: They're not robbers, but contributors.
SPEAKER_00: They're not bad talkers, but they're encouragers.
SPEAKER_00: They're not bitter or angry.
SPEAKER_00: They're kind, forgiving, and tenderhearted.
SPEAKER_00: They're not sexually immoral or covetous.
SPEAKER_00: They're pure of speech.
SPEAKER_00: They're exposers of darkness.
SPEAKER_00: They're not drunk.
SPEAKER_00: They're singers.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I don't know.
SPEAKER_00: That one's snuck in there, but I love it.
SPEAKER_00: They sing.
SPEAKER_00: They're submissive to one another.
SPEAKER_00: Man, this is a great list of what someone looks like.
SPEAKER_00: 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?
SPEAKER_00: 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?
SPEAKER_00: And I think Paul is making it clear, hey, this is what it looks like to be shaped by grace.
SPEAKER_00: That if you're going to believe in Jesus, it can't just live here.
SPEAKER_00: It's got to live here.
SPEAKER_00: It's got to have some effect on your life.
SPEAKER_00: Man, I don't know about you.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Man, any workplace would kill to have a hundred people who look like that.
SPEAKER_00: Any Thanksgiving dinner would kill to have one or two family members that look like that present at the table.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: Because when you put on the new self, you get to show off the likeness of God.
SPEAKER_00: Man, and that that's a beautiful thing for a world that seems to be lacking it often.
SPEAKER_00: You're here today because somebody else showed off the likeness of God to you.
SPEAKER_00: When they allowed God to renew them from the inside out.
SPEAKER_00: And which makes something painfully clear.
SPEAKER_00: One of the most effective ways of helping people know Jesus is by letting Him renew you.
SPEAKER_00: The most important ministry of the church is renewed people.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Let God renew you today.
SPEAKER_00: Let God renew you in that place.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: They need to see how Christ renews your way of communicating.
SPEAKER_00: They need to see the ways in which Christ renews your heart, heart.
SPEAKER_00: They need to hear it in the way you apologize when you do wrong.
SPEAKER_00: They need to see it in the things you post and like on social media.
SPEAKER_00: So I beg you, Christian, put on your renewed self.
SPEAKER_00: 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?
SPEAKER_00: We can't settle for Christianity be an intellectual exercise.
SPEAKER_00: It's got to move its way into our activities and behaviors and how we walk in this world.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus didn't die so you could believe good things.
SPEAKER_00: He died so you could live.
SPEAKER_00: And so don't waste his death.
SPEAKER_00: Respond well.
SPEAKER_00: Let him put on the new self in you.
SPEAKER_00: As we get ready to close, maybe you're here today and you're saying to yourself, hey, Andrew, that sounds good and all.
SPEAKER_00: But how do I do this?
SPEAKER_00: How do I let Christ renew me?
SPEAKER_00: First, number one, would you be honest?
SPEAKER_00: One of the most important questions we can ask ourselves is, hey, am I actually devoted to Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Do I really believe that I need his grace?
SPEAKER_00: Do I believe that I've got sin that I actually might need saving from?
SPEAKER_00: 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?
SPEAKER_00: Ultimately, we've got to ask ourselves regularly, do I actually believe this?
SPEAKER_00: Man, can I tell you?
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Can I tell you, as someone who played Christian for a long time before actually becoming one, that that kind of question changes everything?
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: That I was lying about, hey, my faith really mattering outside of a Sunday.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: 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?
SPEAKER_00: And in that, I believe God can help renew us from that place.
SPEAKER_00: The second thing to practice is make it regular.
SPEAKER_00: Paul describes renewal isn't a one-time thing, but we've got to make it regular.
SPEAKER_00: So would you put it on your calendar?
SPEAKER_00: For me, I actually have to put things in my calendar that are part of that process of God renewing me.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And so literally on my calendar, once a quarter, it would pop up and say, hey, take a week off, Bucko.
SPEAKER_00: You've got to find other things to give your mind to.
SPEAKER_00: Plan an annual treat, plan a mid-course correction.
SPEAKER_00: If we don't prioritize it in our calendar, in our time, renewal won't happen.
SPEAKER_00: We have to be active with it.
SPEAKER_00: We can't be passive with it.
SPEAKER_00: Third thing, make it easy.
SPEAKER_00: Start small.
SPEAKER_00: You're not going to be renewed.
SPEAKER_00: You don't restore a car in one garage session.
SPEAKER_00: It takes time.
SPEAKER_00: So start with some small fixes you can make in your life.
SPEAKER_00: Start with some small questions about where Jesus can renew you and give him access to those places.
SPEAKER_00: You can start with some easy questions.
SPEAKER_00: Here's two I ask myself each night.
SPEAKER_00: Where did I feel close to God today?
SPEAKER_00: And where did I feel far?
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Another one, don't do it alone.
SPEAKER_00: Man, find friends that you can experience renewal with and be vulnerable with.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: Find someone who can ask you the hard question, hey, what's driving this mode, what's motivating this decision here?
SPEAKER_00: Is it your old way of looking at things or is it Jesus' way?
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: I pray, church, as we walk into this, man, would Cranston be pleasantly surprised by renewed Christians walking around?
SPEAKER_00: 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?
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't have to be fancy, it doesn't have to be some grand event.
SPEAKER_00: It's just watching the way you work.
SPEAKER_00: It's watching the way you respond to your kids, it's watching the way you respond in a text message.
SPEAKER_00: It's letting Jesus have those areas of your life as well.
SPEAKER_00: That renewal becomes amazingly clear for the world around us.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, we love you.
SPEAKER_00: God, we admit we need renewing.
SPEAKER_00: God, we admit we're broken.
SPEAKER_00: 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.
SPEAKER_00: So God, would you help us?
SPEAKER_00: Would you do the work that only you could do by your death on the cross, which is save us from our sin?
SPEAKER_00: And in doing so, help us live for the first time.
SPEAKER_00: So Lord, would you would you walk with us today?
SPEAKER_00: Would you gently as you do put your finger on those things that need renewing?
SPEAKER_00: God, would you help us have those honest moments of reflection to say, do we really buy into this or not?
SPEAKER_00: And in doing so, would we come to clarity about what it means to follow you?
SPEAKER_00: And so, Lord, as we go from this place, would you bless us?
SPEAKER_00: Would you lead us?
SPEAKER_00: Would you guide us?
SPEAKER_00: Lord, would you renew us?
SPEAKER_00: We love you and we praise you.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: All right, church, be blessed.
SPEAKER_00: Have a great week.
SPEAKER_00: Stay cool, and we'll see you next week.
SPEAKER_00: God bless.