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Our Theme for 2023 is “Life in the Spirit”
It is more than just recognizing the work of the Holy Spirit.
It is understanding that we live in two realities - natural reality and spiritual reality.
We live at the intersection of heaven and earth.
We are an altar where heaven’s business is transacted on earth.
Our vision at SCF is to “Encounter God’s Transforming Love.”
How do we do that?
(Four R’s)
Respond
Restore
Release
Relate
That describes who we are and what we are about.
Over the next 4 weeks we are going to review the 4R’s just as a reminder of what we have committed to do as a church, but we will be doing so in light of our life in the Spirit.
Repond is represented by the crosses on the logo.
The cross is where God showed His great love for us.
The question for us is, “How will you respond?”
We respond to God by obedience and expect that God helps us when we do.
The resulting recognition is described as an encounter.
A divine encounter is when you recognize who Jesus is.
Before John 3:16, Jesus says this:
A divine encounter is just that - an encounter which takes you beyond your natural existence and makes you spiritually alive.
It’s hard to imagine how this happens, but some people have a supernatural encounter and manage to go back to living as if they had not.
The mind had an encounter, but the heart was never changed.
Respond means change.
Change is transformation.
The biggest problem with Christianity in our society is that people join a religion, but fail to be transformed by it.
Keith Green used to say that going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to McDonald’s makes you a hamburger.
Is a person saved by their profession of faith or by the transforming work of the Holy Spirit?
Respond is more that just saying, “I like the idea of being a Christian.
It is more than just agreeing with the basic principles of Christianity.
It is more than ‘self-identifying’ as a Christian.
It’s not your Christian t-shirt or your Facebook meme that makes you a Christian.
It’s all about the change!
Your testimony is evidence of change.
I, like most people, usually assume that when someone tells me they are a Christian, a believer in Jesus Christ, that it means that some change has occured because of that belief and that they are a new person.
We are sharing testimonies during the Adult Bible Study hour.
Our testimony is the story of the difference that Jesus Christ makes in our lives.
The Chosen Season One features the quote from Mary Magdalene, “I was one way and now I am completely different …and the thing that happened in between was him.”
You don’t have to be Mary Magdalene to have that testimony.
Anyone whose life is transformed by Christ can relate to those words.
I used to be angry, depressed, proud and arrogant...
You fill in the words that describe you before Christ.
Better yet, turn to the person next to you and they will help you remember....
And just because you are changed doesn’t mean you are perfect.
It doesn’t mean that you never slip back into old habits or patterns.
It means that you don’t stay there - those are the old ways - they are not who you are anymore.
Nobody expects you to be able to do it on your own - if you could change yourself - you wouldn’t need Jesus!
This change is supernatural.
Some people treat Christianity as if it were just another self-help trend.
And sometimes churches make it sound like their program is the process of spiritual transformation.
We love Elijah House here, but EH is a tool to guide people.
The transformation is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Spiritual transformation is supernatural - you can’t do it on your own.
God does it in you - all you have to do is allow it!
Thinking that what you are doing is more important than what God is doing is actually an obstacle to transformation.
You do your part, but know that it is God doing His part that is making it happen.
God is even helping you do your part.
This is what is mean to respond to the Spirit.
You recognize that it is the Spirit working in you and through you that is changing you and the world around you.
When you realize this, you are recognizing spiritual reality.
When you start to live into that reality and cooperate with the Spirit, then you are connecting heaven and earth.
Respond means listening to and keeping in step with the Spirit.
Rather than preaching through this section, I want to hear from you.
We just finished a week of prayer and fasting.
The point of fasting is to tune out some or our physical reality to better attune to spiritual reality.
I would like to know what you heard the Spirit saying over the course of this week?
What is your greatest insight from our time of corporate prayer and fasting?
How are you going to respond to what you have heard?
Now remember to obey what you hear - keep in step with the Spirit.
Responding to the Spirit is not just hearing the Spirit, but applying what you hear.
Maybe the Spirit is prompting you to change something, then remember that the Spirit will also help you to change.
Sometimes we listen to the Spirit and then try to do it on our own.
Partnering with the Spirit means continuing to respond to the Spirit.
Our response is measured not by what we have done, but by what we are doing.
In evaluating our own response to the Spirit, we don’t look to the past, but to the present to see how we are continuing to hear and follow the Spirit.
Your testimony begins with the change that happened when you first received Christ, but it continues right up to the present time.
How many have a testimony about what God did this week?
How about today?
How far back do you need to remember to find a testimony of God’s work in your life?
Respond is the first step in a sequence, but it is also ongoing.
Restore doesn’t usually happen until you respond.
Release normally follows Restore.
Relate is not sequential, it encompasses the whole process.
But we never stop responding, restoring, releasing or relating.
The 4R’s have also been incorporated into our membership agreement.
For those who became members within the last two years, you may remember seeing this.
The rest of you should remember that this was presented when we affirmed the vision statement in 2021.
The membership agreement is not to say that we have arrived, but it is agreeing on what our goals are as followers of Christ.
I would like to review these points, but not just to check a box.
- I want to examine these in light of life in the Spirit.
How are we doing?
Is this true on a just a natural level, or are we living this out in spiritual reality?
Is life in the Spirit taking it to a new level?
1.
I have committed my life to Christ having received Him as Savior and Lord.
This is basic - it usually means that we have prayed a prayer of salvation.
But life in the Spirit says that a supernatural transformation has occurred - is that true?
If Jesus is both Savior and Lord that implies an ongoing relationship - have you talked to Jesus lately?
Jesus is Lord is a statement of unconditional obedience - I can’t do that on my own, but the Spirit in me can!
I think what we wanted to capture by this statement was a fully surrendered commitment to Christ - but beyond that is the fact that Christ is fully committed to you.
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