Fully Devoted

Relationships part 3 Did ya'll talk to anyone over the past two weeks about where you are in your walk? How was it? Red Song Books pg 25 Pierce My Ear lets read through the lyrics and talk about them. Pierce my ear, O Lord, my God. Take me to Your door this day. I will serve no other god. Lord, I'm here to stay. For You have paid the price for me. With Your blood You ransomed me. I will serve You eternally. A free man I'll never be. What does this song mean? During Jesus' time, to show you were a slave one would have a pierced ear. It was a sign of sumbmission. By telling the Lord to peirce my ear that means we willingly give our lives to Christ- we give Him our all. We are fully devoted. Lets look up Proverbs 27.17 As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. Now Galatians 6.2 Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. So, we are here to keep each other sharp, to know what is right and wrong and to hold each other accountable AND to help carry our brother and sister's burden! You know- I just signed up for DirecTV today. It was installed this afternoon, I felt a little weird signing up for a 2 year commitment. Have any of you made any type of long term commitment before? The biggest commitment I ever made was to Christ, and then to Germany, and then probably choosing OC for school. I never realized how much it was going to mean, how much it would change when I made a commitment to Christ when I was 18. It all fell into place, I didn’t understand it, and it was frustrating at times, but I always knew He was in control. I’ve told you guys before, the scariest thing I have ever done is walk through the security gates on my way to Germany. But I KNEW that was what I was supposed to do. I can’t even imagine my life had I not made that commitment to Christ. I wouldn’t have chosen OC, (and let me make this clear now, I’m not saying not choosing a Christian school is a bad thing!), I wouldn’t have met the Christian friends that I have now, that I needed so desperately at the time, I wouldn’t have gone to Germany and I know I wouldn’t be sitting here with you all today. God has a plan. He loves us more than we could ever imagine. Lets read some of the verses we picked out last week: I need 3 Readers for me: 1 in Romans, Ephesians, and 1 in 1st John: Romans 5:5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. , Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.; Romans 8:30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. Ephesians 2:4-5 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved., Eph 5:2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 1 John 3:1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.; 1 John 4:9-10 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Lets all flip to 2 Tim 1 8-12So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God. 9 He has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 11 And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher. 12 That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day. You are not your own. Now lets go to 1 Corinthians 6 verses 18-20 Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body. 19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. You are not just making decisions for you right now. You are making decisions for the other person when you say something is okay. You are making decisions for your future children and the influence you leave them. You are making decisions for your friends right now. The way YOU act affects other people. What YOU do- MATTERS. I know I am the worst about thinking, Oh this doesn’t matter, you know what, it does! Even if no one is watching, if no one sees, be it Sexually or just generally, it does matter! God still knows. To defile your mind, your thoughts, your bodies, is a slap in the face to the God that has pursued you with everything He has and who loves you more than you could ever imagine. Flip to Colossians 3, will someone read 1-11 and then another 12-17 please. God has a plan for you, for your life. It is better than you could ever imagine! But you have to do it his way! In Philippians 3 verse 3 For it is WE who are the circumcision, We who worship by the Spirit of God who glory in Christ Jesus and We who put no confidence in the flesh. We are the ones who are here to worship, if you are going to do it, do it with everything you have, it is easy to place emphasis on religious effort (confidence in the flesh) than on our faith, but it is our faith that matters to God, not what we are wearing on Sunday morning or if we show up, it is where our hearts are. Lets move over to verse 13 now, Brothers (or sisters) I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it (no confidence in the flesh). But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Put behind you what is behind you. Live today for today and live it for the glory of God. The decisions you make today are who you are going to become. Yes, your personality is going to change a lot in the next few years but you are shaping YOUR future. Let God be the one who shapes it! Let Him be the one guiding you! Last one, lets flip to Philippians 2:2-4 Then make my joy complete by being like minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. It isn’t just about You. We are here for each other. We depend on each other. None of us are perfect. Being like-minded means when you mess up, you get back up and your help other up and keep going. Lets say one of you found out you were pregnant. Would you just turn your back on them? Would you ignore them? Or would you love them? What about if someone lied? Would you turn your back on that person? Of course not, we seem to prioritize sin. This is worse than that and so on. Sin is sin one way or the other. We are here for each other. We love each other and we help each other. The church is made up of people striving to be as Christ like as we can be. Will we mess up? Daily! But we keep going and we help each other as much as we can! If you haven’t already spoken with someone about your walk, I want you to. I’ll talk to you, 95% of the people in this building would love to talk to you about it! You won’t regret it I promise, it is the most important thing you will ever do.