change

Change Me (from Dangerous Prayers series) Morgan Young 7.28.02

This past year I have been blessed to spend a large part of my time and energies putting together & giving talks to teenagers. One of the quotes I love by Aristotle is, "The Mind never thinks without picture." And the picture I saw in my mind this past year as I thought about the teenagers I would talk to is the image of "wet clay."(pic)

It struck me how hugely important it was to put together messages for these guys that were bathed in God's truth and would make an impact in their lives---because I realized their clay is still wet which means right now, their lives are BEING formedwhat they believe, how they behave, how they date, their relationships, their faitheverything is wet clay-- they're not set in their ways yet.

Think back to your teenage days for a minute ("No-No!") When you're a teenager a common phrase you use is, "I'm gunna " And it sounds like this

I'm gunna to be a cool parent and treat my kids differently when I get older!

I'm gunna to have a career and job that's funI'm going to want to go to work!

I'm gunna to always wear this size clothes.

I'm gunna to always think "Flock of Seagulls" is cool!

I'm gunna to be financially secure before I get married.

But as we ageslowly over time ..we don't notice it, but we exchange the phrase, "I'm gunna" for, "I am" And it sounds like this

I am an employee at ____________.

I am a size ______________.

I am not into this "gangsta rap" thing

I am in _________ income bracket.

I am never going to be lucky enough to be on Trading Spaces ;-)

As teenagers we weren't set in our ways yet----We were wet clay--- we believed we could do whatever we wanted to doour life was at a stage where it was mold-able. But over time---after being baked in the kiln of life, many of us find our lives much less mold-able it's much harder to change our shapeand in some or all aspects of our life, it feel impossible!

(prop & PIC) This is something my daughter Meghan made (click here to see it) in an art class this summer. When she started working on it, it was wet clay, and even her little thin fingers could shape it however she wanted tono problemo!

But then it was put into a kiln and fired--- and now the only way anybody's going to change it is to drop it on the floor

It takes the kiln overnight to set the clay. It takes you and I a few years and lots of life experience, but after a while, we see certain areas of our life as being as un-moldableas difficult to change-- as this little heart.

We go from being full of hope to simply accepting that THIS is the way things are we become more accepting that this is how life is.

So right now the question is, "What part of your life do you thirst for change in, but it appears too hard?" Or the better question: "What piece of pottery in your life does God want you to change?"

Can't really trust God?

Can't believe God's really forgiven your sins?

Being single & content?

Can't be truly happy for more than a daycontent?

(Get it in your mind.) Whatever it is, I want you to think of it as this little piece of pottery. ///

The funny thing about change, is that for every person who's accepted Christ as their personal Savior (Jesus club ;-) change has ALREADY taken place.

And you say, "Yeah, I know, I'm hip my sins are washed away and now it get to go to the "H-floor" when I die"

But MORE THINGS than that have changed! 2 Corinthians 5:17 says: (ppt)

" those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun! nlt

It doesn't say, "A new life will begin after we depart planet earth!" It says, "Right nowwhen we accept Christ a new life begins!"

"Morgan's Who's Who Theme"

Pete Townsend wrote, "Who are you? Who? Who? Who? Who?"

The answer to the question, "Who are you?" is 2 Cor. 5:17"A new person" or a "new creation" in other translations.. But what does that really look like? What is true of us now? What's different?

(handout) The answer is in the handout in your bulletin This is a list of Biblical truths that apply to our life as soon as we come into the Jesus club. This is a pretty good picture of the answer to Pete Townsend's question.

(read through together)

So who are you-who-who-who-who? Read through this list on a regular basis and you will get a clearer picture

For many of us who see ourselves as hardened clay who have parts of our life that seem as rigid as this (clay heart) we need to realize that we have already been changed and we are not hard clay anymore

Because the last verse on that handout says, "I can do all things through Christ, Who strengthens me." Phil. 4:13 (ppt) Does that sound like a description of hard clay?? Or do you hear the possibility of "I'm gunna" statements in that verse?

Who God says we arethe truths on this card are foundationally important to every Christ follower. Why?

We've all heard stories like this:

A guy has a medical problem with his legs he goes to several Drs. and surgeons and they figure out the problem. After they operate, they tell the man, "Everything was a successwe were able to repair the problem 100%. We just need to get you up and around soon to start using your legs."

The next day the nurse comes to take the man for a walk and he says, "No. I'm not ready. My legs aren't healed yetI don't feel OK."

And the nurse says, "Your legs are fine. But unless you put your weight on them and use them they won't heal properlybut sir, your legs ARE fine."

In that scenario, whether the man walks or not has to do with what he believes is true about himself. In that scenario, the truth is: his legs are fine. But his mind says, "My legs are NOT OK." Does what he believes about himself effect his behavior? _______

HECK YEAH! Him believing his legs are NOT OK keeps him in bed. It could keep him from living a healthy lifeeven though the truth is he has healthy legs. What we believe effects how we behave! Ppt (say it)

There's a medical term for people who believe they're sick, when they're really physically healthy. It's called "psychosomatic."

And when you and I believe things about us, that go against (handout) what God says is true of us, we become "Psychosomatic Christ Followers." Instead of being FDFs, (fully devoted followers) we become PCFs-- Psychosomatic Christ Followers!

And that looks like this:

Things at work are killing us we're not making profits like we were maybe a project you were working on didn't hit its projection

Maybe at home you and your spouse are butting heads more than you're laughing together

Maybe you've "had up to here" with trying to parent your jr or sr. high son or daughter and you can't figure why a teenager, the most complicated thing on the planet didn't come with an instruction manual

Then after some or all of these things start rockin' your worlddeep down, you say (exasperated),

"ManI created these problems myself maybe I'm just not cutout to work here or maybe I'm just lame when it comes to trying to be a father or a husband maybe I am just a loser(repeat)"

When we get to this place where we believe we don't have much value because of what is going on in our lifewe're buying a lie

God's truth about us is (handout)

"I am God's child" John 1:12

"I am a branch of Jesus Christ" John 15:5

"I have been chosen by God" John 15:16

"I am God's workmanship" Ephesians 2:10

And the danger of thinking things about us, that don't line up with stuff on this handout is--- what we believe effects how we behave---(just like the guy who wouldn't walk on his good legs because he didn't think they were healthy.)

So much of this relationship we're in with Christ is a process of throwing out lies that the world says about us or we say about us --- and exchanging them with what God says is true of us.

"So what?what God says, what the world saysit's just different!"

The so what is: when we see our life and it's tainted with lies, we start to see our life looking like one dry pile of clay that's rock solid. And whatever we thirst to change in our life looks like it's impossible to change, so why even try, AGAIN?!

(meg) I want you to think about that thing in your life that this heart represents to you. Got it?

For many people here the process of this thing changing in your life starts with you asking the Pete Townsend question: "Who are you?"

And you need to read over this handout before you get out of bed in the morning, you need to keep it at your desk at work and you need to read through it before you go to sleep at night.

You need to get to a point where you believe every truth on this piece of paper is true of you. I use it as a bookmark in my Bibleand whenever I don't "feel" so excellent, I read through it---and I get reminded of God's truth about me

And maybe I only get to the second line on it that says: I am a friend of Jesus Christ"--- and then maybe that's when I'm reminded to talk to God and give up the Napster file called "Morgan's emotions."

And remember: because what we believe effects how we behave, if we believe differently, we'll behave differently--- and behaving differently is the power to change based on God's truth!

This isn't any kind of intellectual mumbo-jumbo!----This is change based on the truth of Romans 12:2 (ppt)

"let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think"

New behavior"change"begins with new thoughtsGod's truth thoughts.

Before I go on, I want to challenge every Christ follower here to read through this on a regular basis---to expose yourself to God's truth about you daily ---then see how your thoughts change to God's thoughtsand then see if Godly thoughts turn into Godly behavior in your life.///

Today's service is called "Change me." I totally believe that all of us want change in some or many areas of our life. But in the subject of "change" in our life, we have to be careful that we don't come into church or more importantly, come to God with an ATM (ppt) attitude

We walk up to an ATM, push in the card, push 4 buttons and out pops cool hard cash!

We drive into the gas station, push in the card, push a button and our gas tank fills up.

We log on the internet, go to Eddie Bauer.com, Amazon.com, Priceline.com, everything.com--- a couple mouse clicks, type in the credit card number---it's on its way!

You and I are so NOT into process---we're not into things that stretch out into a period of time

Remember learning to play baseball?

Remember learning to play an instrument?

Remember learning to tie your shoes? (those who predate velcro)

Remember learning how to cook?

Remember learning how to work on cars?

Remember learning to drive?

Remember the first time you met your best friend?

All of those things were long processes. They were gradual they took our timeour focusour attentionour commitment over periods of time.

We could not ATM those things.

When it comes to thirsting for change in our life, we can't ATM God either!

We can't come to church or come to God, try to figure out the "holy" pin # and get "life-change" out!

There's a couple good reasons why that's true:

One is when you think about where we started as young peoplethe trip from being wet clay to becoming hardened clay was a process---it took time. Odds are even with God leading, it will take time to change some of these (Meg) hardened things in our life.

(Disclaimer) God does have the power to change these (meg) things in our life instantlyand sometimes he does. And if you're one of those people who can stand up and say, "God changed my _____ instantly!" I want to go on record and say, "I am so sickeningly jealous of you!" ;-)

But He does choose to change some people instantly. And "yeah God!" for those people. But most of the time, it's a process---it took us a long time to get here & it takes time to change---takes time for God to undo what we've done.(repeat)

And the other reason we can't ATM God is because, like I said last week, Christianity is a ___________ (relationship)

So if we could measure how much we've changed and put it on a chart----and if we could measure our relationship with Christ on a chart (need ppt slide) I'll bet you that the extent we change never goes beyond our level of intimacy with God. (repeat)

And I've got to tell you that being changed by God is mysterious---there's a dynamic to it that's plain ol' mysterious

We even see the mystery in Scripture. Romans 8:26 says,

" the Holy Spirit helps us For we don't even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words." nlt

That verse says, "Lookyou cannot understand HOW---you don't NEED to know HOW-- but the Holy Spirit is doing His deal on your behalf in ways you can't understand." That sounds mysterious to me.

So, don't be in a funk because you can't figure out everything about how God is going to change you---take comfort and believe the promise that if you're a Christ follower, the Holy Spirit IN us, is working for us.

And we need to take comfort and believe these verses of hope these verse show us the possibility for change:

(ppt)"And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished"(repeat) Philippians 1:6 nlt

This verse says, "Bank on it---stand on this truth---if you're in the Jesus Club, God will continue to be with you, ----- helping you to become what He wants you to---and He won't stop working on you until you get to Heaven!" ///

It's clear by pretty much everything I've said about change---that the Biblical truths I've shared today only apply to you IF you are in a relationship with Jesus Christ.

(meg) If you are not in a relationship with Christ, then the truth is, this ceramic heart really is a good representation of your heart

See, it's completely dried out now---it has NO water in it. And if you're not a Christ follower---doesn't mean you're a bad person (smile) but your heart has no Living Water in it. Living Water is a term the Bible uses to mean God.

And I want to say to you the most important change you need in your life is Godmore than anything else, you need the Living Water IN your life

and if you feel like your life or parts of your life are hardened claythe only way I know that brings true change comes from putting Living Water in your "hard-clay" life.

In John 7:37-38 Jesus shouted these words to a huge crowd at the Temple:

"If you are thirsty, come to me! If you believe in me, come and drink! For the Scriptures declare that rivers of Living Water will flow out from within." nlt

If you believe that Christ is the Son of God and He died on a cross to pay for your sins and if you ask God into your heart based on that truth then God--the Living Water will always be IN you. (offer prayer later) ///

"Jinkies Scoob," we have covered a lot of ground today!

(handout)We learned that what we believe influences how we behave. And that we need to get God's truth about who we are into our mind---that (based on Rom. 12:2)"God will transform us into a new person by changing how we think."

And we learned that we can't ATM God--- having God change us is a process that's never going to go beyond our relationship with Him.

We learned that having God change us is mysteriousbut He promises to keep working with us, on us and in us until we get to heaven.

But as Curly the Cowboy said, it's really just about 1 thing (repeat)

Quenching our thirst for change is about making sure we thirst for God more than we thirst for anything else It doesn't matter how much we want or need change in our life --- the only way change will come is through thirsting for God, first.

This is summed up in Romans 12:1-2 (ppt)

"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life---your sleeping, eating, going to work, and walking-around life---and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don't become so well adjusted to the culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." The Message

God is saying to us through that verse:

"I want your life every ordinary part of it---I don't want just Sunday morningI want you to take every part of your life and lay it before Me"

And we say, "Dudemy whole life is a bit much, don't You think?"

And we forget that He took His Son's lifeHis Son's whole life--- and had it nailed to a treeso that you and I could have eternal life.

The one thing is about submitting our whole life to the one Who died on a cross for us

All the truths on this sheet are made possible only because Christ's death made them available to us

Living Water IN us is possible only because Christ hung on a tree to pay for our sin

The Holy Spirit IN US praying for us in ways we cannot understand is possible only because of Christ's death

Our entry fee to eternity in heaven was paid-for by Christ's blood for us --- AND THAT RIGHT THERE should be more than enough for us ---that ought to be enough to make us submit our lives to Him but like a cable commercial, God says, "But wait, there's still more"

(go!) And He promises to always be with uspromises to be the Living Water IN us that can soften the hardest clay parts of us there is NO PART of our life that Godthe Living Water cannot soften and remoldreshape Your biggest baddest crustiest deal---is nothing to Him

So what's the dangerous prayer? It's not "change me." Praying for God just to change me can be an ATM prayer if we're not careful if we're not careful, it's asking Him to do just this one thing that we want fixed...

No---our dangerous prayer is the one thing that covers everythingand it's based on Romans 12:1-2

(ppt) "God, help me give up my whole life to you, and offer you everything."

Talk about dangerous!

(meg) That prayer covers whatever this heart symbolizes for you and more--- it tells God, "I thirst for You more than anything else." And giving up our whole life to God brings change from the inside outthat's the promise of Romans 12:1

The band is going to start a song now

And they're going to do it through so you can hear it and get a feel for it. And then Sarah is going to invite you to join in

This song is today's dangerous prayer--- "God, help me to give up my whole life to You and offer You everything." Those words are in this song. Seekers and believers can sing this prayer to God.

Will you respond this morning?

If you are thirsty for change in your life will you offer your life in exchange for Christ who was nailed to a tree for you?

Will you finally say "Enough!" and take the hardened parts of your life that you're sick of---and lay them down so the Living Water can soften and change them?

Respond when we sing when we're not comfortable singing, we're saying, "I thirst for You more than I thirst for my own comfort zone"

I don't want you to sing because I get a bonus based on participation---I want you to sing this prayer because when we respond to what God has done---we find Him more real---we come to know Him just a little more as we respond

PleaseLay down your clay-hard comfort zone and let's all be humble together.

(song: Cry for Mercy followed by Potter's Hand)



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		Change Me (from Dangerous Prayers series) Morgan Young 7.28.02 This past year I have been blessed to spend a large part of my time and energies putting together & giving talks to teenagers. One of the quotes I love by Aristotle is, "The Mind never thinks without picture." And the picture I saw in my mind this past year as I thought about the teenagers I would talk to is the image of "wet clay."(pic) It struck me how hugely important it was to put together messages for these guys that were bathed in God's truth and would make an impact in their lives---because I realized their clay is still wet which means right now, their lives are BEING formedwhat they believe, how they behave, how they date, their relationships, their faitheverything is wet clay-- they're not set in their ways yet. Think back to your teenage days for a minute ("No-No!") When you're a teenager a common phrase you use is, "I'm gunna " And it sounds like this I'm gunna to be a cool parent and treat my kids differently when I get older! I'm gunna to have a career and job that's funI'm going to want to go to work! I'm gunna to always wear this size clothes. I'm gunna to always think "Flock of Seagulls" is cool! I'm gunna to be financially secure before I get married. But as we ageslowly over time ..we don't notice it, but we exchange the phrase, "I'm gunna" for, "I am" And it sounds like this I am an employee at ____________. I am a size ______________. I am not into this "gangsta rap" thing I am in _________ income bracket. I am never going to be lucky enough to be on Trading Spaces ;-) As teenagers we weren't set in our ways yet----We were wet clay--- we believed we could do whatever we wanted to doour life was at a stage where it was mold-able. But over time---after being baked in the kiln of life, many of us find our lives much less mold-able it's much harder to change our shapeand in some or all aspects of our life, it feel impossible! (prop & PIC) This is something my daughter Meghan made (click here to see it) in an art class this summer. When she started working on it, it was wet clay, and even her little thin fingers could shape it however she wanted tono problemo! But then it was put into a kiln and fired--- and now the only way anybody's going to change it is to drop it on the floor It takes the kiln overnight to set the clay. It takes you and I a few years and lots of life experience, but after a while, we see certain areas of our life as being as un-moldableas difficult to change-- as this little heart. We go from being full of hope to simply accepting that THIS is the way things are we become more accepting that this is how life is. So right now the question is, "What part of your life do you thirst for change in, but it appears too hard?" Or the better question: "What piece of pottery in your life does God want you to change?" Habitual sin issue? Marital stuff? Anger? Judgmental? Financial issues? Physical condition? No will power? Can't really trust God? Can't believe God's really forgiven your sins? Commitment? Being single & content? What is it for you? Can't be truly happy for more than a daycontent? (Get it in your mind.) Whatever it is, I want you to think of it as this little piece of pottery. /// The funny thing about change, is that for every person who's accepted Christ as their personal Savior (Jesus club ;-) change has ALREADY taken place. And you say, "Yeah, I know, I'm hip my sins are washed away and now it get to go to the "H-floor" when I die" But MORE THINGS than that have changed! 2 Corinthians 5:17 says: (ppt) " those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun! nlt It doesn't say, "A new life will begin after we depart planet earth!" It says, "Right nowwhen we accept Christ a new life begins!" "Morgan's Who's Who Theme" Pete Townsend wrote, "Who are you? Who? Who? Who? Who?" The answer to the question, "Who are you?" is 2 Cor. 5:17"A new person" or a "new creation" in other translations.. But what does that really look like? What is true of us now? What's different? (handout) The answer is in the handout in your bulletin This is a list of Biblical truths that apply to our life as soon as we come into the Jesus club. This is a pretty good picture of the answer to Pete Townsend's question. (read through together) So who are you-who-who-who-who? Read through this list on a regular basis and you will get a clearer picture For many of us who see ourselves as hardened clay who have parts of our life that seem as rigid as this (clay heart) we need to realize that we have already been changed and we are not hard clay anymore Because the last verse on that handout says, "I can do all things through Christ, Who strengthens me." Phil. 4:13 (ppt) Does that sound like a description of hard clay?? Or do you hear the possibility of "I'm gunna" statements in that verse? Who God says we arethe truths on this card are foundationally important to every Christ follower. Why? We've all heard stories like this: A guy has a medical problem with his legs he goes to several Drs. and surgeons and they figure out the problem. After they operate, they tell the man, "Everything was a successwe were able to repair the problem 100%. We just need to get you up and around soon to start using your legs." The next day the nurse comes to take the man for a walk and he says, "No. I'm not ready. My legs aren't healed yetI don't feel OK." And the nurse says, "Your legs are fine. But unless you put your weight on them and use them they won't heal properlybut sir, your legs ARE fine." In that scenario, whether the man walks or not has to do with what he believes is true about himself. In that scenario, the truth is: his legs are fine. But his mind says, "My legs are NOT OK." Does what he believes about himself effect his behavior? _______ HECK YEAH! Him believing his legs are NOT OK keeps him in bed. It could keep him from living a healthy lifeeven though the truth is he has healthy legs. What we believe effects how we behave! Ppt (say it) There's a medical term for people who believe they're sick, when they're really physically healthy. It's called "psychosomatic." And when you and I believe things about us, that go against (handout) what God says is true of us, we become "Psychosomatic Christ Followers." Instead of being FDFs, (fully devoted followers) we become PCFs-- Psychosomatic Christ Followers! And that looks like this: Things at work are killing us we're not making profits like we were maybe a project you were working on didn't hit its projection Maybe at home you and your spouse are butting heads more than you're laughing together Maybe you've "had up to here" with trying to parent your jr or sr. high son or daughter and you can't figure why a teenager, the most complicated thing on the planet didn't come with an instruction manual Then after some or all of these things start rockin' your worlddeep down, you say (exasperated), "ManI created these problems myself maybe I'm just not cutout to work here or maybe I'm just lame when it comes to trying to be a father or a husband maybe I am just a loser(repeat)" When we get to this place where we believe we don't have much value because of what is going on in our lifewe're buying a lie God's truth about us is (handout) "I am God's child" John 1:12 "I am a branch of Jesus Christ" John 15:5 "I have been chosen by God" John 15:16 "I am God's workmanship" Ephesians 2:10 And the danger of thinking things about us, that don't line up with stuff on this handout is--- what we believe effects how we behave---(just like the guy who wouldn't walk on his good legs because he didn't think they were healthy.) So much of this relationship we're in with Christ is a process of throwing out lies that the world says about us or we say about us --- and exchanging them with what God says is true of us. "So what?what God says, what the world saysit's just different!" The so what is: when we see our life and it's tainted with lies, we start to see our life looking like one dry pile of clay that's rock solid. And whatever we thirst to change in our life looks like it's impossible to change, so why even try, AGAIN?! (meg) I want you to think about that thing in your life that this heart represents to you. Got it? For many people here the process of this thing changing in your life starts with you asking the Pete Townsend question: "Who are you?" And you need to read over this handout before you get out of bed in the morning, you need to keep it at your desk at work and you need to read through it before you go to sleep at night. You need to get to a point where you believe every truth on this piece of paper is true of you. I use it as a bookmark in my Bibleand whenever I don't "feel" so excellent, I read through it---and I get reminded of God's truth about me And maybe I only get to the second line on it that says: I am a friend of Jesus Christ"--- and then maybe that's when I'm reminded to talk to God and give up the Napster file called "Morgan's emotions." And remember: because what we believe effects how we behave, if we believe differently, we'll behave differently--- and behaving differently is the power to change based on God's truth! This isn't any kind of intellectual mumbo-jumbo!----This is change based on the truth of Romans 12:2 (ppt) "let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think" New behavior"change"begins with new thoughtsGod's truth thoughts. Before I go on, I want to challenge every Christ follower here to read through this on a regular basis---to expose yourself to God's truth about you daily ---then see how your thoughts change to God's thoughtsand then see if Godly thoughts turn into Godly behavior in your life./// Today's service is called "Change me." I totally believe that all of us want change in some or many areas of our life. But in the subject of "change" in our life, we have to be careful that we don't come into church or more importantly, come to God with an ATM (ppt) attitude We walk up to an ATM, push in the card, push 4 buttons and out pops cool hard cash! We drive into the gas station, push in the card, push a button and our gas tank fills up. We log on the internet, go to Eddie Bauer.com, Amazon.com, Priceline.com, everything.com--- a couple mouse clicks, type in the credit card number---it's on its way! You and I are so NOT into process---we're not into things that stretch out into a period of time Remember learning to play baseball? Remember learning to play an instrument? Remember learning to tie your shoes? (those who predate velcro) Remember learning how to cook? Remember learning how to work on cars? Remember learning to drive? Remember the first time you met your best friend? All of those things were long processes. They were gradual they took our timeour focusour attentionour commitment over periods of time. We could not ATM those things. When it comes to thirsting for change in our life, we can't ATM God either! We can't come to church or come to God, try to figure out the "holy" pin # and get "life-change" out! There's a couple good reasons why that's true: One is when you think about where we started as young peoplethe trip from being wet clay to becoming hardened clay was a process---it took time. Odds are even with God leading, it will take time to change some of these (Meg) hardened things in our life. (Disclaimer) God does have the power to change these (meg) things in our life instantlyand sometimes he does. And if you're one of those people who can stand up and say, "God changed my _____ instantly!" I want to go on record and say, "I am so sickeningly jealous of you!" ;-) But He does choose to change some people instantly. And "yeah God!" for those people. But most of the time, it's a process---it took us a long time to get here & it takes time to change---takes time for God to undo what we've done.(repeat) And the other reason we can't ATM God is because, like I said last week, Christianity is a ___________ (relationship) So if we could measure how much we've changed and put it on a chart----and if we could measure our relationship with Christ on a chart (need ppt slide) I'll bet you that the extent we change never goes beyond our level of intimacy with God. (repeat) And I've got to tell you that being changed by God is mysterious---there's a dynamic to it that's plain ol' mysterious We even see the mystery in Scripture. Romans 8:26 says, " the Holy Spirit helps us For we don't even know what we should pray for, nor how we should pray. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words." nlt That verse says, "Lookyou cannot understand HOW---you don't NEED to know HOW-- but the Holy Spirit is doing His deal on your behalf in ways you can't understand." That sounds mysterious to me. So, don't be in a funk because you can't figure out everything about how God is going to change you---take comfort and believe the promise that if you're a Christ follower, the Holy Spirit IN us, is working for us. And we need to take comfort and believe these verses of hope these verse show us the possibility for change: (ppt)"And I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue His work until it is finally finished"(repeat) Philippians 1:6 nlt This verse says, "Bank on it---stand on this truth---if you're in the Jesus Club, God will continue to be with you, ----- helping you to become what He wants you to---and He won't stop working on you until you get to Heaven!" /// It's clear by pretty much everything I've said about change---that the Biblical truths I've shared today only apply to you IF you are in a relationship with Jesus Christ. (meg) If you are not in a relationship with Christ, then the truth is, this ceramic heart really is a good representation of your heart See, it's completely dried out now---it has NO water in it. And if you're not a Christ follower---doesn't mean you're a bad person (smile) but your heart has no Living Water in it. Living Water is a term the Bible uses to mean God. And I want to say to you the most important change you need in your life is Godmore than anything else, you need the Living Water IN your life and if you feel like your life or parts of your life are hardened claythe only way I know that brings true change comes from putting Living Water in your "hard-clay" life. In John 7:37-38 Jesus shouted these words to a huge crowd at the Temple: "If you are thirsty, come to me! If you believe in me, come and drink! For the Scriptures declare that rivers of Living Water will flow out from within." nlt If you believe that Christ is the Son of God and He died on a cross to pay for your sins and if you ask God into your heart based on that truth then God--the Living Water will always be IN you. (offer prayer later) /// "Jinkies Scoob," we have covered a lot of ground today! (handout)We learned that what we believe influences how we behave. And that we need to get God's truth about who we are into our mind---that (based on Rom. 12:2)"God will transform us into a new person by changing how we think." And we learned that we can't ATM God--- having God change us is a process that's never going to go beyond our relationship with Him. We learned that having God change us is mysteriousbut He promises to keep working with us, on us and in us until we get to heaven. But as Curly the Cowboy said, it's really just about 1 thing (repeat) Quenching our thirst for change is about making sure we thirst for God more than we thirst for anything else It doesn't matter how much we want or need change in our life --- the only way change will come is through thirsting for God, first. This is summed up in Romans 12:1-2 (ppt) "So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life---your sleeping, eating, going to work, and walking-around life---and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don't become so well adjusted to the culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you." The Message God is saying to us through that verse: "I want your life every ordinary part of it---I don't want just Sunday morningI want you to take every part of your life and lay it before Me" And we say, "Dudemy whole life is a bit much, don't You think?" And we forget that He took His Son's lifeHis Son's whole life--- and had it nailed to a treeso that you and I could have eternal life. The one thing is about submitting our whole life to the one Who died on a cross for us All the truths on this sheet are made possible only because Christ's death made them available to us Living Water IN us is possible only because Christ hung on a tree to pay for our sin The Holy Spirit IN US praying for us in ways we cannot understand is possible only because of Christ's death Our entry fee to eternity in heaven was paid-for by Christ's blood for us --- AND THAT RIGHT THERE should be more than enough for us ---that ought to be enough to make us submit our lives to Him but like a cable commercial, God says, "But wait, there's still more" (go!) And He promises to always be with uspromises to be the Living Water IN us that can soften the hardest clay parts of us there is NO PART of our life that Godthe Living Water cannot soften and remoldreshape Your biggest baddest crustiest deal---is nothing to Him So what's the dangerous prayer? It's not "change me." Praying for God just to change me can be an ATM prayer if we're not careful if we're not careful, it's asking Him to do just this one thing that we want fixed... No---our dangerous prayer is the one thing that covers everythingand it's based on Romans 12:1-2 (ppt) "God, help me give up my whole life to you, and offer you everything." Talk about dangerous! (meg) That prayer covers whatever this heart symbolizes for you and more--- it tells God, "I thirst for You more than anything else." And giving up our whole life to God brings change from the inside outthat's the promise of Romans 12:1 The band is going to start a song now And they're going to do it through so you can hear it and get a feel for it. And then Sarah is going to invite you to join in This song is today's dangerous prayer--- "God, help me to give up my whole life to You and offer You everything." Those words are in this song. Seekers and believers can sing this prayer to God. Will you respond this morning? If you are thirsty for change in your life will you offer your life in exchange for Christ who was nailed to a tree for you? Will you finally say "Enough!" and take the hardened parts of your life that you're sick of---and lay them down so the Living Water can soften and change them? Respond when we sing when we're not comfortable singing, we're saying, "I thirst for You more than I thirst for my own comfort zone" I don't want you to sing because I get a bonus based on participation---I want you to sing this prayer because when we respond to what God has done---we find Him more real---we come to know Him just a little more as we respond PleaseLay down your clay-hard comfort zone and let's all be humble together. (song: Cry for Mercy followed by Potter's Hand) back top o' page home