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The Empowered Life: Sermon · Beyond the Sermon

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You're listening to Beyond the Sermon, the podcast of First
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Methodist Church in Collingswood, NJ.
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On our podcast, the goal is not just to share the sermons we've
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preached, but to go beyond the sermon and talk about what we're
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learning and what God is doing in US and in our community.
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You can find more information about our church at
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fumccollingswood.org. Thanks for listening.
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This morning scripture comes from Romans chapter 8 starting
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in verse one. Therefore there is now no
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condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through
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Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set
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you free from the law of sin and death.
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For what the law has powerless to do.
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What the Law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the
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flesh, God did, by sending His own Son into the likeness of
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sinful flesh to be a sin offering.
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And so He condemns sin in the flesh, in order that the
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righteous requirement of the Law might be fully met in US who do
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not live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
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Those who live according to the flesh have their mind set on
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what the flesh desires, but those who live in accordance
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with the Spirit have their mind set on what the Spirit desires.
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The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed
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by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh
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is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law,
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nor can it do so. Those who do not, who are in the
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realm of the flesh, cannot please God.
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You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh, but are in
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the realm of the Spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God
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lives in the If indeed the Spirit of God lives in you, If
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anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to
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Christ. But if Christ is in you, then
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even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the
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Spirit gives life because of righteousness.
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And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is
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living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also
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give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives
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in you. Therefore, brothers and sisters,
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we have an obligation. But it's not to the flesh to
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live according to it to it. For if you live according to the
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flesh, you will die. But if by the Spirit you are put
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to death, the misdeeds of the body you will live.
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For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children
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of God. The Spirit you receive does not
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make you slaves, so that you live in fear again.
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Rather the Spirit you received brought by your adoption to the
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sonship, and by him we cry, ABBA, Father, The Spirit Himself
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testifies with their spirit that we are God's children.
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Now if we are children, then we are heirs, heirs of God and Co
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heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in His sufferings in order
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that we may also share in His glory.
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This is the Word of God for the people of God.
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Thanks be to God. Amen.
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Thanks, Elizabeth. Have you ever seen one of those
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Magic Eye pictures? You know the ones I'm talking
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about, the ones where the image looks like a bunch of dots or
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shapes, but if you stare at it long enough or you kind of cross
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your eyes a little bit, another image appears.
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But this one's in 3D. You know what I'm talking about.
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Yeah. OK.
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All right. Or, or maybe if you're not
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familiar with those, maybe you've gone to a movie theatre
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before and the feature film you were going to see came with a
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pair of those red and blue glasses, right?
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Which also enable you to see some of the elements of the film
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in 3D, even though the, the film, the the movie is being
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projected on a flat screen, Right?
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Both of these technologies use multiple images which are kind
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of offset from each other a little bit, but they also at the
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same time as they're offset, they overlap each other.
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And when they overlap in the right way, they create a richer,
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fuller, deeper image. A2 dimensional image on a page
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or a screen becomes 3 dimensional.
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It's got depth and life and all those things.
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This morning, I want to present some of the lenses that we've
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been using to look at our lives as Christians in this Empowered
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sermon series. And I want to help us combine
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those lenses so that they can help us see the fuller picture
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right, of of the kind of life that God has called us to and
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wants to empower us for. Because I believe that this is
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the life God wants for us both as individuals, but also as a
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church together. You're ready.
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All right, Maybe we need to sing another song.
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Are you ready? OK, pull out your note sheets if
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you're taking notes. We've been talking in this
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series specifically about spiritual gifts, right?
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This is the first lens that we're going to look through this
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more. I said a few weeks ago that
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spiritual gifts are distinct abilities empowered by the Holy
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Spirit and distributed by God's grace to every believer that
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they might faithfully and effectively strengthen the
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church, serve others, and advance God's purposes.
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It's kind of our definition for spiritual gifts.
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And in contrast to kind of our natural abilities, we're not
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born with these spiritual gifts, right?
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They're given to us when we become Christians, when we
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decide to commit our lives to following the way of Jesus and
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we confess the sin in our lives and we turn away from it and,
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and Christ comes in and, and restores us and fills us.
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That's when the Holy Spirit gives us one or two or or maybe
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even several spiritual gifts. Now, that doesn't mean just
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because that's when we receive them, that's when they're kind
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of apportioned out to us. That doesn't mean we always
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recognize them as spiritual gifts in our own lives or or
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that we understand the fullness of what it means to exercise
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those gifts. There's still a growing process
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that comes with learning to exercise and operate in those
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spiritual gifts, even though they're also distinct from our
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humanly acquired skills, right? The kind of skills we learn,
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like if you ever learned in school to do algebra or long
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division, right? Not fun stuff, but you learn how
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to do it. You didn't know how to do it.
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You go through a process, you learn how to do it, then you
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forget it. The, the, the things we learn
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how to do those natural gifts. There's growth in our spiritual
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gifts, but it's not quite the same.
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Now, just because our natural abilities and acquired skills
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are not spiritual gifts, that doesn't mean that God can't or
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doesn't use them in different ways or that they don't
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sometimes work in tandem with our spiritual gifts that God's
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given. It just means that they're not
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in the same category, right? They these natural abilities and
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acquired skills, they don't have the same guarantee of Holy
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Spirit empowerment for building up the body of Christ, but God
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still uses them to help. You see what I mean?
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Let me give you a peek at what I would call my gift
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constellation. You know, constellation has
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stars. They all come together.
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People see things in the stars. I don't see things in the stars.
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Anyway, here's my gift constellation.
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Hopefully it helps you envision how these things interact with
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each other. It's it's definitely a work in
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progress, but it's what I've learned as I've walked with
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Jesus. You can see spiritual gifts are
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up there. They're the kind of the green,
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the darker circles. Natural abilities are in white
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squares and rectangles, and acquired skills are in orange
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triangles. You see kind of the way they all
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come together. You can see in there that that
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teaching and leadership are some of my primary gifts that God has
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given me. But some other things that could
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show up on a gifts assessment, things like shepherding and
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administration, there are things that God has revealed aren't
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areas of spiritual gifting for me.
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Similarly, even though I believe teaching is one of my spiritual
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gifts, preaching as a mode of communication, that's something
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I've had to learn and work on. And when I came here five years
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ago, my sermons back then sound a little different than they do
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today, right? So there's been growth.
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It's a skill I've had to work on.
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So that image up there that's either helpful to you or you're
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even more confused right now and we're just going to move on.
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But spiritual gifts, first lens we're looking at.
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The second lens that we've been talking about that we need to
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consider are the spiritual disciplines or spiritual
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practices. And spiritual disciplines are
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those practices that God has given us as the normal means
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through which we encounter God, right?
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This is these are the pathways that God has enabled for us to
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to meet him. These spiritual practices like
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community, engaging, scripture, fasting, witnessing, these
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spiritual practices are all for every believer, right?
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All for every believer. With the gifts, there are some
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for each Christian. But with the practices, they're
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all for every Christian. That doesn't mean that all of
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the disciplines are going to feel equally powerful in
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different people's lives. Some practices are going to feel
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like you're swimming downstream, floating in the lazy river.
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Everything's good, it just comes and it's good.
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Others. Others will make you feel like
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you're swimming upstream against the current, maybe even up a
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waterfall, Right? You have to work a little
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harder. For me, I love engaging
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scripture. I love to read it, I love to
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study it. I love reading about it.
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I love watching other people teach on it.
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All these, it's a downhill practice for me.
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It comes easy. Fasting, not so much.
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I don't like it. I like to eat, but it's still
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something I I, I very much have to choose to do when I fast.
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But I do it and God meets me in it.
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But it's one of those upstream practices.
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It takes more effort and intention for me.
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We've been talking about spiritual disciplines a good bit
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over the past years. I think it was maybe my, my
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first Lent series. We did a series called This is
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the Way and we looked at different spiritual practices
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and we've been doing that because I've, I've felt that God
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was leading us there, but there was something he wanted to do in
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there. But it wasn't until I was
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introduced to the idea that we see both spiritual disciplines
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and spiritual gifts modelled in the life of Jesus that the light
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bulb kind of came on for me, right?
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The Jesus was our model. Jesus encountered the Father in
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the spiritual disciplines, and that's where he developed the
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intimacy he had with the Father. It's where he got his marching
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orders about when to go on to the next town, when to go to the
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next village, when to call out that guy climbing in the tree as
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he was passing by. And then Jesus was empowered to
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minister, to do the ministry he was called to do through his
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gifts by the Spirit, through those spiritual gifts that God
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gave him. He was empowered by the Spirit
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to do that, his teaching, his miracles, his healings, all
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those things, the spiritual, spiritual gifts, spiritual
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practices. But then there's another lens
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that filters what it means to follow Jesus and, and it's what
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we know as the fruit of the Spirit, right?
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This is how Paul talks in Galatians 5 about the character
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of Jesus which is formed in US in Galatians 5 and Paul says but
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the fruit of the Spirit is Lovejoy, peace, forbearance or
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patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and
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self-control. Against such thing there are
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there is no law right? This is what the character we
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see in Jesus and the character that God wants to form in US.
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Love, like we spoke about last week, at the very center of it
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all, but also things like joy and peace and and then the other
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fruit that make up the character we see in Jesus.
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And this is important because our character is key.
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It's key because God wants to form us into people to whom he
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can entrust his presence and his power.
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He wants us to bear his name in the world as his witness to to
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reflect his character and his heart to the world around us, to
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represent him well. And that formation happens
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primarily as we encounter God through those spiritual
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practices, right? It's about staying connected to
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the source, not just the source of the power.
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We like talking about the source of the power, but it's the very
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source of our life. His life in us.
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His character formed in us so we can be like in the world.
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And so this morning I want to add one more lens to this filter
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that we haven't spoken about in this series.
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And, and I'm going to call this lens Moves of the Spirit.
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Pastor Scott, what is a move of the Spirit?
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Well, moves of the Spirit refer to those times when God
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sovereignly chooses to draw near to his people and manifest his
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presence among them, right? When God chooses, because he
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wants to, to draw near in a special way, he's always present
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everywhere, right? But there are times he draws
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near in a special way and he makes his presence known.
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These these experiences have been spoken of at different
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points in history and in different circles, as as
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revivals or as outpourings as we heard about at Asbury University
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a few years ago, as awakenings or renewals.
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No matter what kind of a title you want to to slap onto those
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moves of the Spirit, they are, in the words of Jonathan
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Edwards, the acceleration of the normal work of God in the church
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and in the conversion of sinners.
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The acceleration of the normal work of God in the church and in
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the conversion of sinners for reasons known only to him.
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There are times God comes and does in a limited amount of time
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what would normally take a much longer period of time.
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Right? But it's not that God is is
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doing something different. He's still choosing to do the
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same things. It's just condensed in time.
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The the effects are speed up because of God's presence.
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Now there's nothing we can do to make the Spirit move in these
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ways. All right?
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We can't pray hard enough. We can't have enough faith.
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We can't live such good life. We can't do anything.
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It's a choice of God to do it. But but we can remove the
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impediment, right? That would stand in the way of
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God moving in this way. And we can be open and watchful
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for when God chooses to move in those ways so that we can be
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ready to cooperate with him. Moves with the Spirit.
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These four lenses, they all come together to reveal an image
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which I would term the empowered life.
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The empowered life. This is how I think about the
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Christian life as as we've been speaking about it, living like
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Jesus, surrendered to the Father and empowered by the Spirit.
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This is the overlap between exercising our spiritual gifts,
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practicing the spiritual disciplines, the fruit of the
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Spirit being formed in US, and being open to these moves of the
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Spirit. I think this is where God wants
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us to live. This is the kind of life that
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Paul described in the passage we read this morning from Romans 8.
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And now Paul doesn't use the term empowered life in his
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passage there in Romans 8 to describe the kind of life that
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we were meant to live. But he does describe the kind of
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life we're meant to live. And he describes the means by
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which we can live that life, because Paul believes that this
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kind of life is not only possible, but it should be the
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expectation for those who follow Jesus.
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And so in Romans 8, Paul draws this this sharp distinction
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between life in the flesh on one hand and life in the Spirit on
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the other hand. In Paul's mind, these are not
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concurrent realities that exist within a Christian and kind of
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fight back and forth to see who's going to win.
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Rather, life in the flesh and life in the Spirit, for Paul,
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are mutually exclusive realities.
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We're either living from one or we're living from the other.
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This isn't a description of what happens when we die and our
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bodies are finally separated from our spirits.
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Paul isn't talking about physical realities when he's
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talking about the flesh. He's talking about the source of
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our life, Right. Either we've been we're being
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ruled by our fallen sinful self, or we're being ruled by God's
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Spirit. And because God took on human
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flesh in the person of Jesus and in his life, death, resurrection
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and ascension, he defeated the power of sin.
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We no longer have to live in bondage to that old system of
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sin and death. Jesus fulfilled the requirements
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of the law, and we're now free to live by the Spirit of God.
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That means. That means that our our minds
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can be renewed, all right. Paul says that there in Romans
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8, we can learn to set our minds on what the spirit desires, not
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just what we want to set our minds on what the spirit
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desires. That's part of what happens when
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we participate in the spiritual practices, right?
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As we read Scripture, for instance, we learn about the
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things that God cares for. As we pray, the Spirit speaks to
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us about what He wants for us and from us.
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As we serve. We learn the self giving
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orientation of love and and on and on through all the
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disciplines. Paul says it's this idea of
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living in the Spirit and the Spirit living in us that makes
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all the difference. This is the evidence that we
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belong to Jesus when people see the Spirit living in US.
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And then we get to to Romans 811, which is one of those
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verses that just blows my mind by, you know, like I said a
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couple weeks ago about Ephesians 317 ish.
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This is one of those passages. This is one of those verses that
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I think helps us understand what God wants for us.
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In Romans 811, Paul says, And if the Spirit of him who raised
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Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from
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the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of
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his Spirit who lives in you. Think about that.
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The same Spirit who overshadowed Mary at the incarnation, The
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same Spirit who descended on Jesus at his baptism, the same
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Spirit who led and empowered Jesus in his earthly ministry.
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The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead lives in you and
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lives in me. The same Spirit gives life to
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our human bodies and empowers us to live in his power, not just
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in some future heaven, but in this world, in this life.
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And so we have an obligation, Paul says, no longer to the
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flesh, but to live as those who are led by the Spirit, to live
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as children of God, the sons and daughters of God, because we're
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heirs with a right to inherit and possess all that belongs to
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God. Did you hear that?
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We are heirs with a right to inherit and possess all that
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belongs to God. Co heirs in fact, right
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alongside Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God.
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You're a son, you're a daughter of God.
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This is the empowered life. This is what God says we can
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legitimately and actually expect as those who belong to Jesus.
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So I think it's a fair question to ask, why don't we see more
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people living in this reality? Has the Spirit changed?
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No. Did God renege on his promises?
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No, of course not. But God's promise, friends, it's
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a conditional promise. The condition of that promise is
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this. Am I living an empowered life?
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Am I living with the Holy Spirit as the source of my life?
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Am I setting my mind on? Am I orienting my life around
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the things of God, or am I allowing the flesh to set the
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trajectories of my life? Am I somehow trying to live as
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if both of these realities can be true in my life?
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That I'm still living according to the flesh but I'm also trying
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to live according to the Spirit? It can't be if we belong to
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Jesus, if our sin has been nailed to the cross with Jesus
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and we need to live like Jesus, surrendered to the Father and
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empowered by the Spirit. Encountering God in those
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spiritual practices, having the fruit of the Spirit formed in
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US, exercising the spiritual gifts we've been given and open
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to however and wherever the Spirit wants to move and wants
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us to join him in that work. If we want God to use us like he
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used Jesus, we have to bring our our lives into alignment with
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the way of Jesus. There's no other way.
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There's no middle ground. Paul says we either live
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according to the flesh or we live according to the Spirit.
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Let's pray this morning. God, we are so grateful that you
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have come to us, that you, because of your great love for
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us, reconciled us to yourself while we were still sinners and
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we could do nothing about our condition.
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You came for us, and you came not just to forgive us.
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You came to redeem us, to sanctify us, to make us holy, to
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empower us to live as your image in the world, to bear your
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character to the world so that the world may know who you are.
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That's what you want for us, and it's what you want from us.
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So would you, would you do that work in US?
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Would you apply the reality that in your death and resurrection,
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sin has been defeated, death has been defeated?
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Would you apply that to our hearts?
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Would you empower us to turn away from that old life with all
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of its trappings, with all of its scars and wounds, to find
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life in your spirit? And would you help us to walk in
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step with all that you're doing and all that you want to do?
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We give you ourselves today, and we trust you to do God what you
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and you alone can do, what we could never do for ourselves.
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And we trust you God, because you are faithful and you can do
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it. So we ask God, would you do it
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in US? Would you do it?
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Even today we pray this Jesus in your name, Amen.