INTRO...“FOR THE ONE”

…living our lives —> “FOR THE ONE”...I want this to be more than a title of a sermon series here at Creekside, my prayer is that in the days and years to come this three word statement becomes the anthem of creekside church!

WEEK 1 > OUR CALL…LOVE GOD AND OTHERS
-- QUESTION...Who is your ONE?

WEEK 2 > OUR POWER…THE GOSPEL
-- Our ‘first brick’ PROCLAIM CHRIST… When we are “Proclaiming Christ” we are demonstrating and declaring the GOSPEL…and we identified 3 ways the GOSPEL is applied to our lives:
1. JUSTIFIED (saved from penalty of sin)
2. SANCTIFIED (being saved from the power of sin) and
3. GLORIFIED (will be saved from the presence of sin)

WEEK 3 > OUR IDENTITY…BAPTISM
-- FATHER/SON/SPIRIT…FAMILY/SERVANT/SENT

WEEK 4 > OUR PURPOSE…MAKE DISCIPLES
-- Going...Baptizing...Teaching to Observe

WEEK 5 > A DISCIPLE IS A PERSON WHO IS ABIDING IN JESUS

WEEK 6 > A DISCIPLE IS A PERSON WHO IS BEING TRANSFORMED BY JESUS

WHAT BEING TRANSFORMED BY JESUS MEANS…

-- INFORMATIONAL DISCIPLESHIP VS TRANSFORMATIONAL DISCIPLESHIP

- Transformed…we are changed and we are being changed
- Transformation has…BEGINNING…have been transformed from what we were || ENDING…will be forever transformed || MIDDLE…being transformed is now our experience in the middle of these two things

- Informational Discipleship || knowing facts about Jesus is the key…reinforced by the way our education system is set up, the reality of how accessible all of the data is, builds consumeristic tendencies

- Transformational Discipleship || obeying Jesus is the key…God reveals himself and what he desires for us to be and do…our response is obedience…he brings about transformation both IN US and THROUGH US

1. YOU HAVE BEEN TRANSFORMED BY JESUS...

—> GOD’S WORK…MADE FORGIVENESS POSSIBLE
(through Jesus and then offered forgiveness to me, He actually does the transforming)

- Genesis…God made us in His image
Genesis 1:26-27
“26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

- Sin disfigured that image
[Genesis 3]

- Jesus restored that image
-- Romans 5:18-21
“18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
-- Romans 5:6-11
“6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”



—> MY RESPONSE...I HEAR, REPENT AND BELIEVE!
- When I do that, in that moment, I am restored, forgiven, changed, transformed. I move from death to life…the old life is gone and the new life has come

-- Romans 10:9-10
“9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”
-- Ephesians 2:4-5
“4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved”
-- 2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

***SO…you have been transformed! || I HOPE WE NEVER FORGET WHAT THE LOVE OF GOD HAS DONE FOR US…THIS MIGHT BE INFORMATION YOU HAVE HEARD MANY TIMES, I HOPE IT PRODUCES IN YOU GREAT THANKFULNESS…NEVER FORGET!

2. AND NOW…YOU ARE BEING TRANSFORMED TO BE LIKE JESUS...

—> GOD’S WORK… HE IS MAKING ME INTO THE IMAGE OF JESUS (his heart, attitude, his actions), by the power of the Holy Spirit (empowers, equips, convicts, teaches)…he is making me more holy, day by day || that is simply what ‘transformation’ is, being made in the image of Jesus…means to make us live our lives so that we are holy (positional holiness + actual day to day holiness)

-- 2 Corinthians 3:18
“18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
-- John 17:17
“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”
[Jesus prays that the Father would sanctify us by his Word...he gave it, he uses it to sanctify us]



—> MY RESPONSE… BELIEVE AND OBEY
[by the power of the Holy Spirit]

-- Galatians 2:20
“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
-- Romans 12:2
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

3. WHAT DOES THE ONGOING TRANSFORMATION LOOK LIKE FOR A DISCIPLE? WHAT ARE SOME MARKERS?

By no means are these bible verses exhaustive, but I think it is a beautiful passage for us to read, to believe and to obey in our journey of sanctification AND transformation…seeing what God has done and is doing and who we are and what we are supposed to be doing… “put off and put on” start/stop
—> I love this passage and use it in my wedding ceremonies. What a great list of qualities, attributes, behaviors for us to ‘put on'

Colossians 3:1-17
Put On the New Self
[1] If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. [2] Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. [3] For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. [4] When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. [5] Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. [6] On account of these the wrath of God is coming. [7] In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. [8] But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. [9] Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices [10] and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. [11] Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
[12] Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, [13] bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. [14] And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. [15] And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. [16] Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. [17] And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

—> In our flesh, our own strength, we cannot do anything. A part from the Vine we cannot bear this fruit. As we walk with the Spirit, being filled by the Spirit…He will grow us, He will empower us to do all of these things (increasingly)…and we will bear fruit…his fruit…growing towards maturity, being made into the image of Jesus…looking and acting more and more like him and reflecting his glory more clearly
—> Obedience is marked primarily by surrender…humble surrender every day, every second of every minute…a mind surrendered, a heart surrendered, a will surrendered to Jesus. Made in His image (justified) but surrendered to live in his image (sanctified) allowing the Holy Spirit to continue making us

MY PRAYER FOR YOU AND ME…

Colossians 1:9-14
“9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.…”

Some day…
Philippians 1:6
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

PRAYER, REFLECTION AND COMMUNION…

-- Have you ever surrendered your life to Jesus? Jesus has done all that was necessary to forgive you and transform your dead spiritual life to become alive and new! If you have heard and the Spirit is tugging at your conscience, convicting you that this is true, repent and believe!

-- As a follower/disciple, in doing an assessment of your life against God’s word today as we REAP’d it this morning, what markers best describe your life? Things in the “put off” list or things in the “put on” list?

-- WHAT IS JESUS SAYING TO YOU TODAY?

-- WHAT IS JESUS ASKING YOU TO DO?