05/30/10 - Out Of This World PT4 9:30 - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore continues the series "Out Of This World" in this Sunday service.

Out Of This World PT4 9:30am Service
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, April 30, 2010

www.churchatmirrorlake.com


Sermon Notes:


Out of This World-Part 4
Invasion of the Heart, Soul and Body Snatcher

Colossians 1:27 “…Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Acts 17:28 “in Him we live, and move and have our being.”

Information: Head—able to judge, debate and justify—Produces Pharisees

Inspiration: Heart—makes for good conversation and stirs our intentions but it leaks—Produces fanatics
Example: Judas

Incarnation: You bleed Him when cut—permeates everything you are and do. Even your mistakes are seen as opportunities for His glory—Produces authenticity.
Example: Paul

Information and Inspiration do not make disciples—Incarnation does that. (Disciple will be where I am)

Philippians 1:19-21 19For I know that 1this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 20 2 according to my earnest expectation and hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness, as always, so now also 3Christ will be magnified in my body, whether by life or by death. 21 4For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.


1. God is for me and is working to bring about good. My weaknesses will always be my areas of temptation. Note the difference in Paul and Judas here. Jesus made Judas responsible for the money box knowing he struggled in this area. Why? He wanted Judas to win, to know nothing could stop him. Instead of growing, Judas judged Jesus as no longer useful to him and his plans so he betrayed him. God says there is no temptation too much for me to bear and there is always a way of escape He has pre-planned for me. In my own strength I will fail, but in Him, I always win. When I am failing, it is highlighting an area where I am relying upon my own perceived “strengths” (obviously it is not a strength or I wouldn’t be failing) instead of trusting Him by letting Him live through me to accomplish His will—my good and the extension of His Kingdom.

2. Note what Paul’s expectation and hope had become—Christ in me, the hope of glory! When we are in a tough time, or in temptation, our earnest expectations and hopes will come to the forefront. Are we self-driven and self-focused or are we intent on seeing Christ glorified and the Kingdom of God extended?

3. No matter what. Regardless of the circumstances, Paul wants to live a life that will make Jesus bigger. Sometimes it is easy to magnify Jesus—people are coming to know Him, lives are being changed, we are finding success in following Him, even in times of persecution—but at other times it can be tougher to magnify Christ—we are experiencing failure or disappointment, we are experiencing success because of what we think is our own effort or plans, we are suffering rejection and loneliness. Paul’s goal was that Christ would be magnified in his body 24/7/365 and he saw that, as long as he kept moving forward toward his destiny in Christ, even his mistakes could be used by God for good.

4. “For to me…” Doesn’t matter what others think, it is what we think. For Paul there was no life to be found outside of Christ. Anything else was a fake—the life of a zombie!

Galatians 2:20 “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Trust is earned when we spend enough time with someone to allow them to prove themselves. Jesus has never, and will never, let us down in any area where we have given Him our trust. Incarnation happens as we hang out with Him. (2 Corinthians 3:18)