10/20/13 Design For Life
PEOPLE NEED THE LORD
    God created the world and put people in it.  He gave us this amazing place to live. He gave us a spark of His creative ability.  We now have amazing inventions.  He gave us His moral and ethical law so we could enjoy living on this earth. For billions of people, life is not what it should be.  We can ask the question why that is.  The basic answer is that people are not living according to God’s laws and principles.  They are doing whatever they want.  Let’s look at something God gave to Moses more than 3,000 years ago.  We call them the Ten Commandments
Exodus 20 NKJV
3 You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;
7 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
8 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.
13 You shall not murder.
14 You shall not commit adultery.
15 You shall not steal.
16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.
    How would the world be different if everyone followed these ten truths, the commandments from God?  How many problems would be prevented?  The answers to these questions are so overwhelming that it is hard to grasp and conceive in our minds what the world would be like.
    Since the impact of obedience would be so overwhelming:
--- Why can’t people do these things?
--- Why is the world such a mess?
    In our own strength we can’t live right.  We need the transformational power of God to change us from the inside.  We need the divine intervention of God to make us new so a desire for obedience to God grows.  As we have been saying often lately, people need the Lord.
The Great Commission
Matthew 28:18-20 NKJV
18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
    We have been talking about this.  WE are commissioned by God to make disciples.  This starts with bringing people to a personal relationship with Jesus.  It continues as we help them becomes learners, followers of Jesus.  It continues as we teach to observe ALL THE THINGS JESUS COMMANDED.  We can rejoice that Jesus is with us always.
    We need to take this personally.  We need to know the basics and be ready to share them.  Some of the basics:
Romans 3:23 NKJV
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 6:23 NKJV
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 3:16-17 NKJV
16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.
Romans 5:1 NKJV
1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
Romans 5:8 NKJV
8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 10:9-10 NKJV
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
    Get God’s Word in your heart and be ready to use it as God gives you the opportunity.
Some of Jesus’ teaching
John 8:31-36 NKJV
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will be made free’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. 36 Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
    Jesus never encouraged us to place our confidence only on past spiritual experiences.  Our salvation and relationship with Jesus requires that we hold to, live in His teachings.  Real believers continue to obey and live by the Word of God.
    One of the chief promises of God is that the truth will set you free.  God’s truth will set your free from bondage to sin.  Jesus is not talking simply about true facts, but His eternal truths.  Only God’s truth can set people free from sin and the destruction that comes from Satan’s work.  Jesus is the truth, He claimed to be God’s truth.
John 14:6 NKJV
6 Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
    Jesus: One Way!!!  It is only in the Bible that we find the eternal truths God wants us to know.  Anything else is false.  It is here we learn of God’s grace, His forgiveness of sins that gives us an eternal home with God.  We have all the truth we need, we have the truth about Jesus.
    The truth of God’s Word sets us free; the lie brings us into spiritual slavery. The truth restores; the lie destroys.
    Sin is common.  We see it all the time and the enemy wants to tempt us to participate.  The Bible clearly teaches that Jesus breaks the power and control of sin in the lives of His followers.  All who continue to live in sin are slaves to sin.  We have the choice to make Jesus our Lord and Savior.  When we do we will experience freedom from sin as we continue to rely on Him.
    Spiritual freedom is awesome.  Jesus said that in Him we will be free indeed.  We are no longer slaves to sin.  We have victory over selfish desires and the cravings of the sinful nature.
Romans 6:17-18 NKJV
17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Romans 8:1-2 NKJV
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
    This is awesome, Jesus sets us free.  We live without condemnation.  We don’t have to constantly give in to temptation and experience the consequences of going our own way. 
    Jesus gives us the life all people desire.
    Jesus offers us life-changing power to help us overcome evil and temptation and to grow spiritually.
Ephesians 6:11-13 NKJV
11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
    With God’s help, following God’s methods, we have victory.
This leads us to the reminder:  PEOPLE NEED THE LORD
Discussion - Key Points today are:
    In your sermon notes you have a list of prayer needs.  Look at it.  This is for you to use.
List.  Be specific of people who you will pray for, people you will ask God to allow you to minister to with the goal of seeing them have the joy of the Lord in their lives.  They are not a spiritual conquest.  They are not a spiritual project.  They are people that Jesus loves.
People who need to come to Jesus as their personal Savior.
Relationships that need to be healed.
Relationships that need to be broken.  Some people are in situations they need to leave.
People with life-controlling problems.