4/21/13  DESIGN FOR LIFE

HEALTHY CHURCH - A PLACE OF CHANGE

    Question for all: (I want to challenge your thinking from the beginning).  Name something that needs to be changed -- and why???  Response.
    Change is difficult, and gets more difficult as we get older. I heard a man say he was visiting his 91 year old mother in a nursing home.  They were talking about changes that were happening there. She said, I know they are making changes and I am against every one of them.
Atheist Unable to Meet Christian’s Challenge
    In the 19th century atheist Charles Bradlaugh challenged a Christian to debate the validity of the claims of Christianity. The Christian was Hugh Price Hughes, an active soul-winner who worked among the poor in the slums of London. Hughes told Bradlaugh he would agree to the debate on one condition.
    Hughes said, “I propose to you that we each bring some concrete evidences of the validity of our beliefs in the form of men and women who have been redeemed from the lives of sin and shame by the influence of our teaching. I will bring 100 such men and women, and I challenge you to do the same.”
    Hughes said that if he couldn’t bring 100, then he could bring 20. He finally got the number down to 1. All Bradlaugh had to do was to find one person whose life was improved by atheism, and Hughes—who would bring 100 people improved by Christ—would agree to debate him. Bradlaugh withdrew!
D. James Kennedy and Jerry Newcombe, What If Jesus Had Never Been Born? (Thomas Nelson, 1997), p. 189
    What is the evidence of the reality of Jesus and what He will do in a person’s life?  Possibly the most powerful evidence is the change that comes in a person’s life when they truly get saved.  The church, the called-out ones, called out for a purpose, - the church is here to facilitate changed lives through the power of the blood of Jesus.
One of the challenges is that many people don’t want to change.
“Most people prefer the certainty of misery to the misery of uncertainty.”
Virginia Satir, therapist
    When a man named Zacchaeus met Jesus, he was totally changed.  Jesus invited Himself to his house.  When they were through he was a totally different man.  Change happens when a person really hears Jesus.  The hearing and response result in application, and that results in change.
II Corinthians 5:14-21 NKJV
14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.
    16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
    Before we look at these verses and how we can apply them, let me share a story of change.
Man Transformed After Dealing with His Anger
    In his book It Came from Within, Andy Stanley tells of a man whose faith sprang back to life once he dealt with his anger.
    I met Joe at Starbucks. He was sitting in one of those overstuffed chairs with headphones on and a scowl that said, “Don’t anybody come near me.” Everything about his countenance and posture communicated anger. So when I saw him, I avoided eye contact and went on about my business.
    As I was waiting for my soy latte, Joe approached me and said, “Aren’t you Andy?” At that particular moment, I wasn’t sure if I should be Andy or not…. “Somebody gave me one of your CDs.  I’ve been listening to it. But I’ve got to tell you, I have a real problem with God, and the church, too, for that matter.”
    Joe had been through two difficult divorces. His wife was sexually abused as a child and was never able to face the issues involved. After 30 years of marriage, the memories of abuse surfaced and eroded their marriage, which ended in divorce. His ex-wife passed away suddenly two years later. Joe then remarried, but after three years, this too ended in a heartbreaking divorce. Joe was lonely, a recovering alcoholic. There was no evidence of the existence of God as far as he could see….
    I got Joe’s phone number and connected him with Pastor John Woodall. John called Joe, met him for coffee, and struck up a friendship. That was the last I saw of Joe, for a while.
    A while later, I was sitting in that same Starbucks, talking to a student pastor from another church, when in walked Joe. When he saw me, he headed straight for my table. The first thing I noticed was that he was smiling. The second thing I noticed was that he was carrying a Bible, a notebook, and a book on marriage.
    “I’m getting remarried next week!” he announced. I wasn’t sure what to think. “To who?” I asked. “To Susan!” he exclaimed. Susan was his ex-wife. “Susan and I are getting remarried. John is doing the wedding.”
    I could see in Joe’s eyes that something remarkable had happened. And it had. Over the course of several meetings with John, Joe found the courage to quit blaming and, instead, take a look at what was rattling around in his heart. He had been an angry man, with reason to be angry. But like so many people, Joe had no idea what to do about his anger. And his unresolved anger had eroded his faith to the point where it was almost nonexistent.
    John had helped…Joe’s faith come to life. With his renewed faith came the motivation he needed to address other issues in his life. The transformation was so remarkable that Susan noticed and began asking questions. Soon after, she put her faith in Christ. The week before Susan and Joe were remarried, John baptized her in one of our morning services.
Andy Stanley, It Came from Within (Multnomah, 2006), p. 58-60
    Let’s look at the thoughts from these verses we read.
The Ministry Of Reconciliation
    Christ’s love compels us, it motivates us to help people know what He will do for them.  He died for all that we would no longer live for ourselves.  He died that we would live for HIM.  We are talking about change, for the majority of people want to live for themselves.  They focus on the three most important people in the world: me, myself and I.
    Because of the sinful nature in people they generally insist on being in control of their lives.
“It is all mine.”
“Everything is mine and I own and control it.”
“Therefore, I will do whatever I want whenever I want and I expect your approval.”
    I have also known people who don’t want to change who say: “Well, that’s just the way I am”.  I want to respond to them, “Well, Jesus came to change the way you am”.
    We must no longer look at things, at life, from a worldly point of view.  From verse 16 -
So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. NLT
Consequently, from now on we estimate and regard no one from a [purely] human point of view [in terms of natural standards of value]. Amp
    We look at life from a totally different perspective.  We recognize that God made everything, He made us, He bought us through His death on the cross and He owns us and all we possess.  We are here to manage everything for the Lord.  Our perspective becomes heavenly, eternal.
    In Christ we are a new creation.  Those who accept forgiveness and yield their lives to Jesus are born again and made completely new from the inside out. Through their personal relationship with Jesus, believers become new.  This is what a Christian is.  They are transformed in their thinking and actions.  They long to live a holy life that pleases God.  This is why God made people in the first place.
Reconciliation - A change from hostility to friendship. It is a mutual change, both parties agree.  A bringing together of two parties that are estranged or in dispute.  There is a change of relationship, replacing antagonism with goodwill.  Attitudes are transformed and hostility ends.
    For the saved:  God has reconciled us to himself.  We are in a right relationship with Him.  We then are no longer rebellious against God.
    We then become Christ’s ambassadors.  We represent Jesus to the world.  Paul was serving as an ambassador of Jesus and was speaking with His authority in his work to restore people to a right relationship with God. In the same way, we all are to be His ambassadors telling His story, and representing Jesus to those who don’t know Him yet.
    People need to know that Jesus took on our sin so we can take on His righteousness.  We are then in a right relationship with God and, with His help, we live according to God’s standard.
    The application of this theme is critical.
LIFE APPLICATION: The Next Step
DESIGN FOR LIFE
The need for change or keeping the status quo is based, at least in part, on the standards we use.  What is the standard you use?
What are the key points of change the world doesn’t understand?
What are the key points of change the church doesn’t understand?
How can we apply this message?