Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Message 1: Introduction

Introduction to the New Christian


The past couple of years we’ve been through an extraordinary season of change. And during this season the one thing that has struck me as of vital importance is this: I want more of God. I want more of God than I’ve experienced. I want what I read the early Christians had. I want what I read of in the biographies of great Christians whose very lives have been utterly transformed. I want more of God.

And, I see that I’m not the only one who has the same desire.

READ WITH ME HABAKKUK 1:5 from your notes:
“Look among the nations and watch. Be amazed and astonished. I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if it were reported to you.” Habakkuk 1:5 GWT

• I want to be amazed.
• I want to be astonished.
• I want more of God.

There is a hunger in the world today for more of God. Frustrated with the emptiness of man’s best efforts – millions upon millions of people are seeking after God like never before. Intuitively we know – even before we experience it – that there is more of God available!

And He is responding. He is doing ‘amazing, astonishing’ works in the lives of people who are earnestly seeking Him above all else!

So let me pose a question that is worthy of great consideration: What would you be willing to do – to give up – to embrace – so that you could have more of God? But to seek Him above all else requires that we willingly let go of that which we have held onto in favor of what He brings to us in response to our search for Him!

Here’s what I’ve noticed ---
I. TRYING TO MIX THE OLD WITH THE NEW RUINS BOTH!

Jesus said in Luke 5:36-39
“No-one tears a patch from a new garment and sews it on an old one. If he does, he will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. And no-one pours new wine into old wineskins. If he does, the new wine will burst the skins, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. And no-one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’”” Luke 5:36-39, NIV.

• New patches won’t match old clothes – and new wine breaks old wineskins!

• The temptation of the natural mind is to try to blend ‘a little of the old with a little of the new’.

• BUFFET MENTALITY: To try to get a ‘little bit of Jesus’ while remaining largely unchanged is not Christianity! And far too many people have adopted the BUFFET MENTALITY when it comes to Christ: “Take what you want and leave the rest!” Christ doesn’t allow for this – He says: “No – this won’t work, what I have to offer is completely new and absolutely transforming.” Which is why He said in John 3:3 that in order to be a part of what God is doing, we must be ‘born again!’

• Look again at verse 39: “And no-one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, ‘The old is better.’

The natural man wants to be comforted and to feel good. And the religions of man have sought to accomplish just that – and you’ve got weak, complacent Christians who ‘feel good’ but who aren’t changed by Christ and certainly not drinking of the new wine of the Holy Spirit!

• “Religion” offers words of comfort and tools for success while never addressing to need for a fundamental change of spirit, soul and body! And the modern church has largely abandoned the power of God to transform for the programs of the church to educate! We don’t need more education – we need more transformation!
o The truth is that church leaders are afraid if they don’t offer the ‘latest and greatest’ that you’ll change churches to those that do.
o And they are afraid that is they do or say anything that might make your flesh uncomfortable that you’ll leave and go elsewhere, and as a result we have seen a blending of old and new – all designed to make you – the Consumer/Christian to feel comfortable!

• But Christ didn’t come to make us feel comfortable. He came to change our lives – from the inside out. This process involves inviting Christ to look deep within and to explore our innermost being, it involves honestly admitting our failures and asking for His power to change us. Which is exactly what Jesus wants to do – but we must be willing to fully cooperate – to die to the old that the new might emerge! This isn’t a one time decision – rather it is a daily choice to allow Christ to be LORD over my life! The New Christian chooses to die to self – not once, but daily.

II. HERE’S THE PROBLEM: The Church has IGNORED Christ’s Instructions!

• Over the past 2000 years, the church has tried to patch tattered old clothes with pieces of the new. We’ve sought to mix the new wine of Christ with the old wine of tradition.

For instance Christ says:
“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” 1 Peter 2:9, NIV –

Do you see what He calls us: “A Royal Priesthood” – In other words – because you are Christian – you are to live and act as PRIESTS to those around you. But the church mixed Roman ideology with the Jewish Priesthood to create a new Christian heirachal system of CLERGY that rule over LAY PEOPLE.

How is that the ‘priesthood of all believers?’

• Another problem that happened in church history is that the Roman Catholic Church became a monolithic institution rather than continuing in the organic spiritual body and family that Christ compared! It got so bad that one early Roman Catholic leader – Cyprian – said: “He cannot have God for his father who does not have the Church for his mother.”

The church ignored Christ’s instructions and became a monolithic institution where a special class of Christian rule and the second class of Christian is do what they are told!

• But what if? What if the church had never turned into a institution? What if we had remained a Christ-centered fellowship, bringing each believer the joy, peace, love, mutual commitment and spiritual empowerment that Christ intended?

III. GOOD NEWS! God is Re-Forming Things!

Through out the world, A new breed of Christian is rising up – freed from the shackles of the institutional church – and we are giving Christ back His church! Praise God – there is hope for a better day! The denominational system is dying. The clergy/laity heirachy is being replaced with genuine body life.

George Barna – the leading church researcher is publishing a new book called “Revolution” where he chronicles the changes in the US Church – listen to this:

• The number of Christians attending local church in the USA is declining rapidly. Today, 70% of Christians attend traditional churches, but this will sink to 30-35% in 20 years;
• The number of followers of Jesus who do not attend a local church will grow from 30% to 70% in the next 20 years;
• Alternative fellowship forms (house church/simple church, post-modern churches etc.), currently home for 5% of USA Christians, will grow to make up 30-35%; another 30-35% will live out their faith in the fields of media, arts and culture; the remaining 5% of Christians attending non-traditional forms of church will have a family-based spiritual life;
• Conclusion: a minority group presently not even noticed by many will become the mainstream of North American Christianity in only two decades.

God is reforming things – and we are in a prime position to be on the front lines!

FOR THE NEXT SEVEN WEEKS WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THIS NEW TYPE OF Christian – but for today – let me briefly describe what God is doing to build His people throughout the world:

1. The New Christian lives with a NEW IDENTITY! (Philippians 2:9-10)

Casting off the false identity of ‘sinner’ and embracing the truth that we are God’s children and seeing ourselves increasingly as His ‘called-out’ people – SAINTS of God – Holy unto the Lord! This new identity involves a radical redefinition of WHO we are – refusing to accept the old categories and labels – we are simply God’s people – filled with the Holy Spirit – and we can do ANYTHING that He calls us to do! Did you see the words that Peter used: “chosen, royal, holy, belonging!”

2. The New Christian walks in NEW EMPOWERMENT! (John 14:12 – Ephesians 3:20-21))

The “Old” Christian did what they were told. They were second-class citizens to the truly spiritual “clergy” class. But the New Christian – fully empowered by the Holy Spirit – is willing to venture into new territories of faith and service, believing Christ at His Word that we’d do ‘greater things’ and we are embracing the motto “No Limits!” We are beginning to experience the truth of Jesus’ words in John 14:12…

“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” John 14:12, NIV.

And Ephesians 3:20… “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” Ephesians 3:20, 21, NIV.

3. The New Christian has a NEW RESPONSIBILITY! (James 1:17 Philippians 4:19)

James 1:17 says… “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights…

This responsibility emerges from our new identity and new power – in that the New Christian views himself not as an OWNER but as a STEWARD of what God has placed in his hands. As a STEWARD we are freed up to give away what we have in order to meet the needs of those around us – confident that Christ has ‘glorious riches’ available to us and that we cannot out-give or out-serve the Lord!

4. The New Christian experiences a NEW FREEDOM! (John 8:36)

Jesus said: “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36, NIV.

The New Christian is free to truly enjoy their relationship with Christ, living at new levels of satisfaction and freed from bondages, baggage and barriers! With the power of the Holy Spirit flowing through them, freedom to live at a whole new level becomes the order of the day!

5. The New Christian has a NEW UNDERSTANDING! (Matthew 11:30)

Coming to experience the genuine truth of the Gospel message opens up a new quality of life that far surpasses expectations and previous experiences, enabling them to move into the abundance of living that Christ promised! Church life from the past takes on a shadowy experience compared to living in the light of Jesus!

Jesus said – and wasn’t kidding: “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:30

6. The New Christian has a NEW environment of SUPPORT! (Acts 2:44)

As more and more people come into the truth – they intuitively know that they need to share the road together! So, the church becomes a living family of people who honestly, transparently and regularly open their lives to one another – while living under the umbrella of a shared grace – and the Holy Spirit shows up and brings gifts that meet each others needs.

Acts 2:44 describes what I’m talking about: “All the believers were together and had everything in common.” Acts 2:44, NIV.

The Support of the Body of Christ becomes a powerful force for a transformed life in the midst of the safety of genuine Agape Love that is able to stand the test of time, troubles and trials!

7. The New Christian has a NEW kind of MATURITY! (Philippians 3:13-14)

This maturity is found in becoming the unique and gifted person God designed and willed for you to be – full, complete, lacking no good thing in Christ, free from the compulsion to measure life by worldly standards – the new Christian finds his life in one place and one place only: In relationship with Christ!

Paul writes of this new focus:
“Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13, 14, NIV.

TRANSITION
And so – we see the beginnings of a sunrise that could enlighten our lives in ways that might astound us – as Habakkuk said: “Be amazed and astonished. I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe even if it were reported to you.”

Yet – we have a role to play in ushering in this new day:

IV: OUR PART: Letting go of the old in order to receive the new!

Christ offers you new clothing – stop trying to patch up your old rags!
Christ offers you new wine – but don’t try to fit it into the old containers!

Jesus says in Revelation 21:5 – “I am making all things new!” And for us to experience the new life that He offers we must let go of the old and embrace Him!

That involves two steps:

1. Stop believing what you’ve been told and start believing what Christ is actually saying!

We’ve all been victims of lies and deceptions – that’s what old wineskins and tattered clothing are!

• Your church of origin – did it set you free?
• Your family – did they lead you astray and cause you to believe falsehoods?
• Your culture – does it promote true freedom or is it all about getting you to march in-step with it’s current direction?
• Your flesh and soul – do they want what they want or are they submitting to Christ?
• Satan – we know what he wants.

One way to move deeper into Christ is to learn to evaluate everything in the light of Christ! Revivals and spiritual renewals are always the result of people who are willing to ask the hard questions and to sacrifice the sacred cows! I say: If there are any sacred cows around, let’s kill ‘em and bar-b-q them!

People with a second hand faith will never experience what Christ offers. What you need is a passionate pursuit of God Himself. You’ve got to be unwilling to accept anything less than an encounter with God Himself!

Philippians 2 says that you must …
“…continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” Philippians 2:12, 13, NIV

Let me put it this way: To live out the New Christian life – you must simply do what it takes to be who God wants you to be!

And the second step is…
2. Believe with Confidence that God can and will lead you to His new way of living!

Three Questions that must be faced:
1. Is He Able? – Does He have the power to do what is needed?
2. Is He Willing? – Does He have the character to lead you?
3. Will I Cooperate? – Am I willing to walk in faith?

CONCLUSION: There is a lot more of God than what we’ve experienced thus far.

Tommy Tenney calls those who hunger for more of God to be “God Chasers” – people who aren’t satisfied, who hunger and desire for more of God than ever!

If that is you – I have very good news. There is more. And this ‘more’ is available to all who will willingly let go of the old in order to be prepared to receive the new!

AND SO – we conclude with one final thought: If you want more of God – this is a choice you must make:
Let go of the old and move into the new
Or Hold on to the old and miss out on the new