New Way
New Year New You • Sermon • Submitted
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· This is the last week of our series entitled New Year, New You
· From this series we hope it would help you take stock in where you are and where you are headed in your life.
· With our world having been turned upside down, it seemed right to think about things that are really important – things that will remain true no matter where you are or where you live.
· And if there’s anything that needs to become new in 2021, maybe it needs to start with you …..
· from the scriptures in first sermon, Pastor Jeff talked about being born again …… and the need to make sure you are truly born again
· that the faith you were raised in and with didn’t just teach you how to live like a Christian …… but that it grew you spiritually and where you became a Christian….. giving you New Life
· and from the scriptures in the 2nd sermon just last week, Pastor Jeff talked about seeking God ….. to walk in step with the Spirit.
· Because we have a choice – we live like the rest of the world –
o in the flesh …….. in our desires….. out of alignment with God’s will…. out of step with God
o or we can live in step with the Spirit…… live within His will
· and Pastor Jeff shared some important truths to inspire us to start two spiritual disciplines ……. through regular or daily reading of the bible and through daily prayer … both in an effort to help you walk in step with the Holy Spirit …… to start a New Practice
· And today we’re going to finish up this series and talk about a New Way ….. a new way to live …..
· one where a born again individual …… made in God’s image ….. one that received New Life, that’s developed New Practices….. seeking God’s will …… reads His word….. studies His word ….. lives out His word ……. One that prays to Him constantly ……
· does these things from a place of genuine repentance and faith….. it’s a New Way to live for many of us…….
· It’s a new way because the truth is that many of us, when we mess up ….. we don’t fess up…….
· We don’t acknowledge what we’ve done is wrong …… we don’t want to acknowledge our failures ……. We don’t want to acknowledge our defeats ….. we don’t want to acknowledge our problem
· We don’t want to change our behaviors ……. We really don’t try to change at all ….. we don’t change because we have learned to live with the way we are…….. we don’t want to try because we think we’re fine the way we are. ……
· Some of us think… “I’m too old to change” ……. Too old to turn from bad behaviors …… too old to give into others …. Too old to change for them ……. They just need to accept me the way I am……..
· Why do I need to change from the way I am…… I’m fine…..
· The truth is…… you are not fine …..
· you’ve said or done things in the past, or even in the last year, or month, or week, or even today that shows you are not fine ……..
· you are not fine because you have said or not said…. Done or not done something in your life that has caused a relationship to fall apart …….. or to become damaged …… or that has caused it to be non-existent…… all because of your pride
· you are not fine because you have some habits that cause you to look at things on the internet that you should not be looking at in the first place……
· you are not fine because you look at the opposite sex in a way that causes you commit adultery with them in your heart
· you are not fine because your politics causes you to hate those on the opposite side
· you are not fine because your politics has become your idol
· you are not fine because you allowed sports to be your idol
· you are not fine because you want badly what others have
· you are not fine because you lied to keep yourself out of trouble or deceived someone to get what you wanted
· you are not fine because your personal safety comes at the expense of someone else’s needs
· you are not fine because you so much like living as the world lives
· you are not fine because you have become comfortable in your sin
· ……… you are not fine because you do not and will not repent
· Repentance is what John the Baptist proclaimed during his ministry …. As we see in Matthew chapter 3 verse 2, telling folks to “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
· In Mark chapter 1 in verses 14 and 15, we read that Jesus started off His earthly ministry with the same message, but also with an additional meaning. “ 14 Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
· And also in Luke chapter 13 in verses 3 and 5 ….. Jesus said “….but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
· We also see at Pentecost, in Acts chapter 2, right after the Apostle Peter’s awesome sermon….. and the Jewish people that were there and heard the sermon and were convicted by the message …… and they asked Peter what they should do, how are they to respond to everything seen and heard…….
o Here’s what Peter said – look at verse 38 “……Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
· Some of you here or watching online right now, might be wondering what the word “repent” means……. Its not a word that’s heard all that much…..
· but for a Christian – it’s something should be very familiar with…..
· From the Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible, word repent or repentance means….
o a turning away from sin, disobedience, or rebellion and turning back to God
o a change of mind
o a feeling of remorse or regret for past conduct
o a “godly sorrow” for sin leading to an act of turning around and going in the opposite direction
· these definitions bring together both the Old Testament Hebrew and New Testament Greek meanings..
· So using the definition and the scripture we’ve read ……. Here’s what John the Baptist, Jesus and the Apostle Peter said concerning repentance:
o John the Baptist says - Turn from your rebellion and turn back to God because the Savior is coming and He is already here
o Jesus says - Turn from your disobedience or be judged to eternal death in hell
o And Jesus also says – Since God has arrived…… turn from your sin and turn to Him and believe in the gospel ……
§ So…. Know that God is Creator of everything seen and unseen, and because God created you, you are accountable to Him
· (Psalm 24:1 says “The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein,”)
§ Know that God is perfectly holy and just …… He judges perfectly
· (Matthew 5:48 reads “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”)
· (And in Deuteronomy 32:4 we read ““The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.”)
§ Understand that everyone sins and falls short of God’s Holy standards and deserves judgement
· (Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”)
· (And Romans 3:10 “None is righteous, not one;”)
· (and from Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death,”)
§ Know that because we fall short and deserve punishment, God the Son …
· the Lord Jesus came here and lived a perfect, sinless life
· that He died for the sinner …. (Romans 5:6 reads “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” )
o (And in Romans 5:8 “ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”)
· Understand that God the Father punished Jesus for all sin – (Isaiah 63:6 reads “ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”)
· Understand that Jesus died, was buried and was resurrected on the 3rd day thereby defeating sin and death
o (1st Corinthians 15:4 says “that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,”)
· And know that Jesus ascended to heaven sitting at the place of honor next to the Father…. And the Father put Him over all things
o We read in (Ephesians 1:20-23 “20 that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”)
o and all that Jesus said, Peter said as well in his Pentecost sermon in Acts 2.
o But Peter also informed us that upon repenting and believing that we’d receive God the Holy Spirit.
o And the Spirit resides in the follower of Jesus. We read this in (Romans 8:9 “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”)
o And the Spirit resides in the follower of Jesus. We read this in (Romans 8:9 “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”)
o And also in (1st Corinthians 3:16 “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?”)
o And also in (1st Corinthians 3:16 “Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you?”)
So….. Go a New Way …..
….. turn from for sin, turn from your rebellion, turn from your disobedience –
……go in the opposite direction – go to God – turn to Him
…… and believe in the Gospel of Jesus ……. His life, His death, His resurrection, His ascension to the Father’s right hand…….
Repent….. repent…… repent…….
o You need to repent and turn to God to establish a right relationship with Him
o A right relationship with God is dependent on turning from your sin and placing your faith and trust in the righteousness of Christ
o When you mess up….fess up…… have a change of mind and stop doing the things that cause to mess up
o …… turn and go in the opposite direction….. confess your sins to God and ask God to help you stop messing up… to stop rebelling against Him…. to stop your disobedience…..
o Your repentance and your faith go hand in hand
· So…..
· There was a man of great faith that serves as an awesome example of a repentant heart….. a man that did some awful things…. that had a change of mind ……. That sought to turn from his ways and turn towards God …… and that faith-filled man was describe as one after God’s own heart…. that man was King David
· Let’s open our Bible to 2nd Samuel chapter 11 and start in verse 1
11 In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.
2 It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 3 And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. 5 And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”
6 So David sent word to Joab, “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab was doing and how the people were doing and how the war was going. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” And Uriah went out of the king's house, and there followed him a present from the king.9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and did not go down to his house. 10 When they told David, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?” 11 Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah dwell in booths, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are camping in the open field. Shall I then go to my house, to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing.” 12 Then David said to Uriah, “Remain here today also, and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 And David invited him, and he ate in his presence and drank, so that he made him drunk. And in the evening he went out to lie on his couch with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
14 In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote, “Set Uriah in the forefront of the hardest fighting, and then draw back from him, that he may be struck down, and die.” 16 And as Joab was besieging the city, he assigned Uriah to the place where he knew there were valiant men. 17 And the men of the city came out and fought with Joab, and some of the servants of David among the people fell. Uriah the Hittite also died. 18 Then Joab sent and told David all the news about the fighting. 19 And he instructed the messenger, “When you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, 20 then, if the king's anger rises, and if he says to you, ‘Why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know that they would shoot from the wall? 21 Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Did not a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he died at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?’ then you shall say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’”
22 So the messenger went and came and told David all that Joab had sent him to tell. 23 The messenger said to David, “The men gained an advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. 24 Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king's servants are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.” 25 David said to the messenger, “Thus shall you say to Joab, ‘Do not let this matter displease you, for the sword devours now one and now another. Strengthen your attack against the city and overthrow it.’ And encourage him.”
26 When the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she lamented over her husband. 27 And when the mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.
** Please note…… though you may not sin like David sinned ….. sin is sin….. its rebellion and disobedience towards God….. all sin and fall short**
…….. in the scripture we just read we see the following from King David
- he failed to lead …. he did not lead his men into battle
- he lusted after another man’s wife
- he committed adultery with that man’s wife
- he got that man’s wife pregnant
- he tried to cover up the adulterous act by recalling that man from the battlefield to get him to go home and sleep with his wife…so it could be said the man got his wife pregnant.
- But the man did not go home and sleep with his wife…….so David arranged to have Bathsheba’s husband, who was one of his honorable soldiers, to be purposely killed in battle
- And David had others take part in the killing
- then he married the dead man’s wife
- King David sinned against God….. and God was displeased…… and God rightly judged King David …… King David and Bathsheba’s son died as God’s judgement and His perfect will……….
And King David repented and returned to God……. he went a “New Way” …… and we see it in Psalm 51
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your abundant mercy
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin!
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins,
and blot out all my iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will return to you.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God,
O God of my salvation,
and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
18 Do good to Zion in your good pleasure;
build up the walls of Jerusalem;
19 then will you delight in right sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings;
then bulls will be offered on your altar.
· …….when you have godly guilt…….
· godly remorse for your sins…….. for your sin-lead attitudes and behaviors……
· when you are born again and have a New Life ……
· when you are in step with the Holy Spirit and have New Practices….
· You will repent and turn back to God as King David did in Psalm 51….
· You will repent ….. you will seek change ……
· You will turn from for your sin, turn from your rebellion, turn from your disobedience ……
· ……and go in the opposite direction – go to God – turn to Him
· go a New Way…… amen!
· To aid you in going a New Way ….. in order to help you stay in step with the Spirit in a life of repentance …… I urge you to reach out to one of your brothers or sisters in Christ ……. and have them keep you accountable…..
Going it solo as a Christian doesn’t work …… you are made to be in fellowship with one another …… seek an accountability partner ….. be accountable to them …… it will help you turn from your wicked ways and turn towards God…… amen!
· So from this series….. New Year / New You
o Be born again – confess Jesus is Lord and believe in His resurrection
o Be in step with the Spirit
§ Read and study your bible daily
§ Pray constantly
o And Repent always….. turn from your sins and turn towards our Savior
§ Be accountable to one another
· Your faith requires it of you ….. Amen!