Change

Intro: When is the last time you took an inventory of your life and examined your heart! Is your spiritual life changing for the best? Lets look at what God says about change.

I. God desires change for us. Romans 8:29  For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.
How much like Jesus are you? God our Father is continually working in our lives to conform us into the image of Christ. That's His purpose for all of us. To live our lives more like Jesus and handle our problems more like He did, and be victorious over every situation in life. Father God wants the best for all of us. We must give up our way of doing things and obey His word, only then can we be assured God will help us with a new outlook on life and it's problems. He will give us the strength and power we need for each day to live for Jesus. Everything we need to change is found in Him and Him alone. We will never find spiritual change in this world around us, in better circumstances, or human relationships. The things in the world are constantly decaying because of the curse of sin and death. Nothing here below can make us more like Jesus.

II. Change begins when we face the truth about ourselves. Lamentations 3:40 Let us search out and examine our ways, And turn back to the Lord. Take a good look at your life. Are you closer to the Lord today than you were last year at this time? Have you gotten sidetracked? Are you troubled within? Are you weary and heavyhearted of life; feeling threatened, defenseless, helpless and overwhelmed with life's problems? Are you depressed and anxious about things? Tired of dealing with it all? Wishing you could get away from it all? Are you relying on yourself to solve all of life's problems? Do you keep making the same old mistakes in you life? If you keep doing things the same old way, you will wind up with the same old results. That's why change is necessary. For real change to take place, we must face the truth about ourselves! Have we let things come between us and the Lord? We must turn back to Him to change!

III. Change begins within you. Col. 1:27 To His saints God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. May we tap into this gold mine of power and peace that is deep within us, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. This scripture reminds us that Christ Himself lives in us by His Spirit. He resides in the deepest depths of our being. He is in an constant union with your spirit. We must learn to surrender to the power of His Spirit within us if we hope for a change in our lives and to be able to overcome life's problems the way God intends for us to do. As you let Jesus' Spirit help you change whats inside you and how you respond to life's problems, you'll alter their outcome. Then you won't be continually burdened down by your situation in life. Col. 3:15 says to “let the peace of God rule in our lives.” Notice the word let. The choice is up to us believers: we do not automatically experience the peace of God. We are to let the peace of God rule in our hearts. When we read God's word and pray with the focus of our attention on Him, His peace will reign in us. The word "rule" means to act as an umpire. The peace of God is to be the umpire, the deciding factor in all our relationships, circumstances, and situations of life. As we let the peace of God rule in our hearts, we will become more like Jesus. Col. 3:16-17 says “let the word of Christ dwell in us richly” and allow it to become a part of us, then we will respond to life's situations in Christ's wisdom and power, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. As we allow Christ's Spirit within to bear His fruit in our lives daily, we will be conformed more and more into the image of Christ.

Invitation: To make a change in our lives, we must know Christ as our personal Savior and Lord. Do you know Jesus as your Savior and Lord? Is His Spirit living within you? If not the bible says that today is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation. Confess your sins to Jesus and ask Him to forgive you and invite Him into your life to take charge of you and help you to handle all of life's problems and troubles.

His Spirit within you will begin to conform you into the likeness of Christ.

True Love

Scripture Text

1 John 4:7-11

Intro: There are many definitions for the word love. It is used in so many various ways it has lost its real meaning. The scriptures for today tell us what true love is, where it comes from and what imitation love is and where it comes from in God’s point of view.

I. True love is from God. 1 John 4:7-8 (NKJV)
⁷  Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸  He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

 a. Christians are to love one another. God is the source of all love; therefore, love comes from God. The phrase anyone who truly loves is born of God.” Only those who have experienced the new birth are able to have the love described here. Those who have received this gift are endowed with the nature of God and thereby become partakers of the divine love. Love for fellow Christians provides proof of spiritual birth and relationship with God. In addition, John says, anyone who truly loves knows God. This speaks of an ongoing knowledge—“getting to know” God—a continual, growing, spiritual knowledge based on actual experience of God in a believers’ life. It follows, then, that a person who does not love other Christians has never known God. The Greek verb for “know” is in the aorist tense, thereby indicating that this person not only doesn’t know God now but has never known him. The statement God is love ought not be turned around to say “Love is God” or watered down to “God is loving,” as if this were just one of God’s attributes. Rather, love is God’s very essence. It is not one of God’s many activities; instead, all of His activities are done with love. When He disciplines or teaches, for example, He does so with love. And conversely, because God loves, he disciplines and teaches.

Because He is love, He can do nothing without love.

II. God’s love demonstrated through Jesus. 1 John 4:9-10 (NKJV) ⁹  In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ¹⁰  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  Jesus Christ, sent from God, embodied the Father’s love and demonstrated that love in His life on earth. Of all the different kinds of love, God’s love—agape love—is the truest. Greek has four words to depict four different kinds of love: (1) eros for sexual passion, (2) storge for family devotion, (3) philos for friendship, and (4) agape for loving-kindness. Agape was used exclusively by John to characterize God’s love. It speaks of compassion, regard, kindness, and unselfishness without expecting anything in return. Agape love does not come naturally for humans. We are not born with it, neither can we learn it. Believers receive agape love only through the Holy Spirit. Romans 5:5 “Because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”  Verse 10 says Not that we loved God, but that he loved us. The love relationship was initiated by God; people had nothing to do with it. How could we? All people were totally dead to God—dead in trespasses and sins ( Ephesians 2:1). He loved us even though we were totally unworthy of his love. He loved us so much that he sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. God in His love sent his Son to the world to die for undeserving sinners—that kind of love is real agape love. By removing sin, God removed the barrier between Him and his people so that He could live within His people and they could live within Him.

III. Because of God’s love for us we are to love each other. 1 John 4:11 (NKJV) Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

 God’s supreme love for us is the motivation of our love for each other. Because we are born of God, we should resemble our Father, who is love. As we grow in appreciation of God’s love for us, our love for him and for other Christians will grow as well. The way God loves people—sacrificially, unselfishly, completely—provides the example for how we should love each other.

Conclusion: As we grow in appreciation of God’s love for us, we will also grow in our love for each other. We need more of God’s love in this world today and it’s up to us to share His love with others to make this world a better place to live.

Invitation: Jesus extends His love to you right now. If you have never stopped and confessed your sins to Christ, do it now and ask Him to forgive those sins and then invite Him into your life to live in and through you. Be baptized and begin to grow in that love that God has for you. You will so glad you did.