Life Transformation

Pastor Miles

April 15, 2012

Ephesians 4:17-32

1. Live no longer as those without Christ.

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. (Ephesians 4:17-19 ESV)

2. Live as those who know Christ.

But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, (Ephesians 4:20, 21 ESV)

3. Life transformation involves putting off the old and putting on the new self.
- It involves renewing your mind. (I am also reminded of Romans 12:2 "Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.")

to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:22-24 ESV)

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:25-32 ESV)

Put Off: falsehood (v 25)
Put On: truth-telling
Reason: we are members of the same body
Put Off: acting in anger (v 26-27)
Put On: resolving anger
Reason: don't give the devil a foothold
Put Off: stealing (v 28)
Put On: honest work
Reason: have something to share with those in need
Put Off: unwholesome talk (v 29)
Put On: helpful talk
Reason: be a blessing to others
Put Off: grieving the Spirit (v 30)
Put On: follow the spirit
Reason: sealed with the spirit for the day of redemption
Put Off: bitterness (v 31-32)
Put On: kindness
Reason: God forgave you


Daily Prayer
Lord, Thank You that I am not who I once was without Christ. Help me to continue to put off my old self and put on my new self in Christ. I want to honor You in all these areas of my life. Amen.

Resurrection Life Today

Resurrection Life Today

Pastor Miles

but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" Then he said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home. (John 19:25-27 ESV)

John 19:25 "here is your mother"
Jesus put the needs of others above his own even during his agony on the cross.
1. To experience Resurrection Life today, you must put the needs of others above your own.

Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And they cast lots to divide his garments. (Luke 23:32-34 ESV)

Luke 23:34 "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
Jesus wanted those who hurt him to experience forgiveness and God's love.
2. To experience Resurrection Life today, you must forgive others.
Let go of the bitterness and grudges in your life, and you will experience the peace of God, and the ability to forgive others.

And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:33, 34 ESV)

Mark 15:34 "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
Jesus feels abandoned and the despair of being separated from the Father.
3. To experience Resurrection Life today, you must turn to God for answers.
Jesus shows us that by questioning God in prayer that is an act of faith. When we choose to turn to God we die a little to self. We can turn to the Word for encouragement.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? (Psalm 22:1 ESV)

It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" And having said this he breathed his last. (Luke 23:44-46 ESV)

Luke 23:46 "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!"
When everything else is gone what is at the center is Christ's commitment to God.
4. To experience Resurrection Life today, you must commit yourself to God.
When everything else is stripped away, what is at the core of your life? Have you made a commitment to Christ?

Keys for Loving Your Family

Keys for Loving Your Family from Tony Dungy's book "Uncommon" 1. Be a leader around your home, but lead for the benefit of your wife and children, not for your own benefit. 2. Give your wife breaks from her daily responsibilities. 3. Make memories. 4. Keep your vows sacred. Sometimes better comes after worse. 5. If you are not married, be careful in selecting a spouse. It is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. 6. Be present with your family—emotionally and physically. 7. Be careful what you say and do. 8. Write notes to your children. 9. Honor those in authority over you. 10. Be careful with the authority and influence you have been entrusted with. 11. If you can't come to grips with your parents and your past, find a professional to walk with you through it.

Triumph or Terror

Matthew 21:1-13

Pastor Miles

1. Jesus turns a triumph into a spectacle.

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you make it a den of robbers." (Matthew 21:12, 13 ESV)

2. Nothing in your life can take the place of God.
Just as your body needs air to survive, does the soul need prayer.
We need to set aside time and place for God and prayer.

What is the role of Trinity Church?
We need encouragement and teaching on prayer.
We need structure: group and personal time for prayer.

See Jesus example: John 17

Learn to Live as Part of the Body

Ephesians 4:1-16

Pastor Miles

1. Live to protect the unity of the body.

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (Ephesians 4:1-6 ESV)

4 qualities to preserve the unity of the Body through peace:

1. Humility
2. Gentleness
3. Patience - the reluctance to avenge wrongs
4. Bearing with one another through love

4 things that unite us:

1. One body - We are in an organic unity
2. One hope
3. One faith
4. One baptism

In Essentials unity, nonessentials charity, in all things Christ is the center.

2. You were given a special grace to use as part of the body.

But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore it says,
"When he ascended on high he led a host of captives,
and he gave gifts to men."
(In saying, "He ascended," what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, (Ephesians 4:7-12 ESV)

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:10, 11 ESV)

3. Grow up to maturity as part of the Body.

to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:12-16 ESV)

The goal of being built up is maturity (v. 13): to measure up to the stature of Christ.

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:29 ESV)

We need to learn to speak the TRUTH in LOVE. (v. 15)
We need to grow up in maturity, but also to help others to grow in maturity.
We need to grow, but also to serve.

Daily Prayer

Father, Thank you for making me part of the Body of Christ.

May my attitudes and actions protect the Unity of the Body through the bond of peace.

Thank you for the special grace You have given me as part of the Body.

Help me to find a place to grow and a place to serve in Your Body as we grow up in maturity together.

Amen.