Hey Fam,
Here’s my recent sermon: Shifting Your Story For God's Glory
Big Idea: We are changed when we behold Christ Glory, we must commit to examine, draw close and study Christ for the rest of our lives. This change causes us to be more Kingdom Minded.
Text Scriptures: [Psa 24:10 NLT] 10 Who is the King of glory? The LORD of Heaven's Armies--he is the King of glory. Interlude
[2Co 4:5-7 NLT] 5 You see, we don't go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, "Let there be light in the darkness," has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. 7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.
[Heb 1:3 NLT] 3 The Son radiates God's own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.
[2Co 3:18 NLT] 18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord--who is the Spirit--makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
[Eph 1:7-8 NLT] 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
Intro: Before we can understand how to reflect God’s radiance we must prioritize learning about the Gospel and the kingdom of God.
Weakening of our foundation happens when Christians don’t learn the Gospel Properly!
Worldliness/carnality happens when we don’t learn about the Kingdom properly.
During Paul’s day, there were two different gospels that competed with his own. One was the gospel of legalism, which is rule-oriented. The other was the gospel of libertinism, which is self-oriented.
Legalism is the human attempt to gain God’s favor by keeping rules, regulations, laws, and expectations
Some libertines have gone so far in their deception that they have reinvented Jesus in their own image to justify their rebellion against God and clothed it with spiritual talk. Others have gone further off the beam and have become practically atheists. In short, the libertine lives as if there is no God. The legalist lives as though she or he is God to everyone else
Jesus stood outside both the Progressive Left of His day (the Sadducees) and the Conservative Right of His day (the Pharisees). His gospel and His message transcended – and kind of collided – with both.
The gospel of the kingdom is the good news about the universal kingship of Jesus of Nazareth in the earth. And it is a gospel of grace, salvation, and life.
Broadly speaking, the kingdom of God is the rule of an eternal, sovereign God over all the universe. More narrowly, the kingdom of God is a spiritual rule over the hearts and lives of those who willingly submit to God’s authority.- https://www.gotquestions.org/kingdom-of-God.html
Tim Keller says this “The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.”
That gospel is not good advice, good philosophy, good organization, good religion, good politics, or good views. That gospel is good news.
LISTEN: In the first century, the words “gospel” and “evangelize” referred to heralding the good news that a new emperor had been installed in the Roman Empire. This is great info from Rick Renner Ministries. https://renner.org/article/what-does-the-word-preach-mean/
BIG IDEA:
One of the things I’ve learned in my spiritual journey to be more like Christ is that the closer someone gets to Jesus Christ, the less judgmental, self-righteous, harsh toward others, sour, mean, sneaky and selfish he or she will be.
And the closer one gets to Christ, the more they will desire to know and live for God’s ultimate purpose.
The lordship of Jesus Christ and the liberty of Christ are two sides of the same coin.
Consider God’s rule in the UNSEEN REALM before creation. The heavenly hosts were subject to God by the sight of His peerless glory. And they were utterly free to follow Him or not follow Him. Some chose not to follow Him.
We have to be like the angels that shine and cover their face in reverence as the cry holy holy holy in the presence of Yahweh Elohim.
For us not to burn out but burn bright we have behold God’s glory and grandeur with the fear of the Lord daily.
Just as God the Father rules the kingdom of heaven in the heavenly realm by His glory, Jesus Christ rules the kingdom of God on earth by His glory.
LISTEN We must Open our heart and receive His grace. Then show His glory and grace to others, especially your brothers and sisters in the Lord.
the 3 Cs of Isaiah 6- Conviction, Consecration and Calling
Today I want to end this sermon with a challenge with the 3 words tolodge in your spirit as you think about how you want to reflect God’s glory in your story.
Commitment, Inconvenience and sacrifice
* Commit yourself to study, sit and saturate yourself in the Glory of Christ and the kingdom of God. If the gospel of the kingdom is not changing your life, how can you expect it to change others.
* Inconvenienced
“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” (1 John 3:16)
“A willingness to be inconvenienced is the ultimate proof of love.”- Ann Voskamp
Ray Ortund once said If your relationship with your church is ambiguous and sporadic and subject to convenience, the problem is not your relationship with your church. The problem is your relationship with Christ. He has made his loyalty clear. He even delights in his church. He is committed to the revival of the world through the revival of the church. To God, the most important thing in all of created reality is his church, a crown of beauty in his hand. Your own greatest happiness is the revival of your church.
[2Sa 24:24 NLT] 24 But the king replied to Araunah, "No, I insist on buying it, for I will not present burnt offerings to the LORD my God that have cost me nothing." So David paid him fifty pieces of silver for the threshing floor and the oxen.
* Sacrifice:
[Rom 12:1 NLT] 1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice--the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.
Didn’t get to tell this great story:
Years ago, an express package was mailed from England to South Africa. Postage was due upon delivery but the recipient wouldn’t pay the fee. For about fourteen years the box remained unclaimed and was used as a footstool in the express office. After the consignee died, the box, along with other unclaimed articles, was auctioned and sold for nearly nothing. When the purchaser opened it he discovered several thousand pounds of sterling English bank notes. Because the original recipient wouldn’t sacrifice a customary delivery fee he forfeited a fortune!
This new chapter in our fellowship is for us to shrink back but to rise up
Whew that was a lot.
I’ll finish this post another time.
If this was the 4th best newsletter you ever read and what to buy me coffee
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/BGpy6TM
Also, let me know if you are interested in booking a short spiritual guidance/coaching call for a small fee ($33 per 50 minute session)
