Today's Sermon:
"Character Counts"
A Series on Character: Week 1- Introduction

I. Reason: Why a Series on Character?

1) Character Creates .......

2) Character Creates a .....

3) Character Creates the Condition for .....

“What must we do in the present if we are to reach the goal of a fully human existence, realize our potential, become the people we know in our bones we were meant to be?…Here is the real challenge: not just to add one or two more commandments, to set the moral bar a little higher, but to become a different sort of person altogether…a transformation of character.”
-N.T. Wright,After You Believe, pgs. 13-15

II. Definition

III. How- God Works and ......

“The ‘putting on’ is a matter of consciously deciding, again and again, to do certain things in certain ways, to create patterns of memory and imagination deep within the psyche and, as we saw from contemporary neuroscience, deep within the actual physical structure of our mysterious brain. Gradually, bit by bit, the “putting on” of these qualities—qualities that seem for the moment so artificial, so unnatural, so ‘unlike me’—will in fact transform the character at its deepest level.”
-N.T. Wright, After You Believe, pg. 145

Everything you need for life and godliness you have already. In full. You actually don’t need any more. Not one thing—not a cotter pin or flat washer, not a doohicky or a thingamajig: nothing’s been withheld. Everything required for an abundant and flourishing life and a deep and real commitment to what matters mostis intact. The life you’ve always wanted is already here. Right now. Not next year. Not after you get through this particularly difficult season. Not after your kids reach a certain age. Not after your husband gets his act together, or you’ve gone to counseling, or acquired a college degree, or read the latest and greatest self-help book. Here and now you have everything you need. Only, there’s some assembly required. Peter says, “For this very reason”—because you have all you need, down to the last snip of thread and patch of duct tape—“for this very reason, make every effort to add . . .” What follows are seven virtues, each and all laid on the foundation of faith. Seven virtues that we’re to make every effort to acquire. And if we do? We will participate in God’s very own nature. We will escape the corruption of the world. We will lead a fruitful and productive life. We will have more.-Buchanan, Mark. Hidden in Plain Sight, pp. 14-15