052213: OMG -- God is Sacrificial

OMG! – God is Sacrificial

I.                    Introduction

a.       Over the next few weeks we are going to be talking about different character traits of God.  Beyond this, God desires us to be like him.  Ephesians 5:1 says, “Be imitators of God…”  So we will show how we can live out that characteristic in our own lives.

b.      Tonight we are going to look at the character trait of being sacrificial

                                                               i.      Ephesians 5:2 – “And live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

                                                             ii.      We have a God who is sacrificial

II.                 Body

a.       What is a sacrifice?

                                                               i.      Illus: You don’t know this man, his name was Eduard Burceag.  One day in June 2008, he, his wife, and his friend were hiking on Mt. Rainer when a freak blizzard descended on the mountain.  When it became obvious they were lost and wouldn’t be able to make it back to base camp they dug a trench.  Eduard laid down on the bottom with his body on the snow, the other two on top trying to keep warm.  He refused to switch places though he was pressed against the snow.  The next day they recovered his body from the mountain after he had sacrificed his life to save that of his wife and his friend.

                                                             ii.      Sacrifice is the destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else

1.      It can be an act of offering something precious to God out of worship

2.      Or it can be the giving up something of value for someone else’s sake.

b.      Read Ephesians 5:2 again, “And live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

                                                               i.      Out of love Jesus was willing to sacrifice himself in order to bring us back into a relationship with God and find forgiveness for our sins.  His act was one of offering himself to God in our place.

III.               Conclusion

a.       God wants us to be sacrificial people.  What is the opposite of living a life of sacrifice?  Being selfish or greedy.  We live in a culture that is teaching us that it is all about us and what we can gain and nobody better take it from me!  I earned it, it is my right, go help yourself!

b.      The sad truth is that many of you would never even be willing to give up your favorite paid for treat (drink or food) in order to give that money away to those in need.  Man of you would never even be willing to sacrifice 10 minutes of your day to pray or show love to someone in need.  We are clutching our hands around what we have in fear that if we lose it we won’t have anything left…

c.       But God wants us to be sacrificial rather than greedy or selfish.  That life of sacrifice will bring about more for us than one of greed, including a better final resting place.

d.      So what does that bible tell us when it comes to sacrifice?

                                                               i.      1^st Chronicles 21:24 – “But King David replied to Araunah, ‘No, I insist on paying the full price.  I will not take for the Lord what is yours, or sacrifice a burnt offering that costs me nothing.’”

1.      Sacrifice must be of something valuable

                                                             ii.      Romans 12:1 – “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”

1.      Sacrifice is an act of worship

2.      God wants our lives as a sacrifice

                                                            iii.      Hebrews 13:15-16 – “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name.  And do not forget to do good and share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

1.      Praising God can be a sacrifice (worship is acting in obedience)

2.      Doing good is a sacrifice

3.      Sharing with others is a sacrifice

e.       My challenge for you is this, each week sacrifice, sacrifice something to God, sacrifice something for others.  It can be difficult at first because you have to readjust how you view life and live it and stop being so self-centered and greedy.

OMG! #5 -- God of Truth: 051513

Message: OMG! – God is Truth

I.                    Introduction

a.       Over the next few weeks we are going to be talking about different character traits of God.  Beyond this, God desires us to be like him, so we will show how we can live out that characteristic in our own lives.

b.      Tonight we are going to look at the character trait of being truthful.

                                                               i.      John 14:6 – “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life….”

                                                             ii.      We have a God who is truth

II.                 Body

a.       But what does it mean that God is truthful?

                                                               i.      What are some other words (synonyms) that we use that mean truthful?

1.      Honest; Accurate; Precise; Correct; Authentic; Genuine; Factual

                                                             ii.      What are some other words (antonyms) that we use to say some isn’t truthful?

1.       Liar; Deceitful;  False; Misleading; Fake; Misinformer; Fabricator; Imposter; Misrepresenter of the Facts

                                                            iii.      In one side the idea is that truth is the standard, it is solid and always right, whereas a lie is a twisting of that truth.  Whether it is the complete opposite of the truth, or if it is just a small tweak of the truth.  A lie can be withholding part of the truth, a lie can be stretching the truth, a lie can be little and white, or it can be big and bald-faced.  But the important thing to remember is that a lie is always a twisting of the truth, truth is always 100% correct.  So anything less than 100% correct is a lie.

                                                           iv.      God is truthful to himself:

1.      When we talk about God being truthful to himself we are saying that he himself is 100% authentic, meaning he is completely true to his character, never going against that.

2.      He doesn’t say one thing and do another, he is honest to who he is, he doesn’t misrepresent himself to others (which we will talk about next) but he also doesn’t deceive himself.  He knows who he is, and his actions match who he is.

                                                             v.      God is truthful to others:

1.      He always tells the 100% truth to others, he never fudges on it, he never misleads us, he never outright lies to us, he never is false, he doesn’t lie!

2.      This means that what He says can always be trusted.  We believe that the Bible is God’s words to us.  So that means that we can trust the Bible to be 100% truth.  What other things in life can we put our whole trust in?  Not much. 

3.      When God speaks to us we can trust his words to be truth and thus obeying them should be easier because we trust they are not twisted in some way.

III.               Conclusion

a.       Let me ask you a worthless question:  How many of you struggle with telling the truth? 

b.      God takes lying seriously. 

                                                               i.      John 8:44 – “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire.  He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

                                                             ii.      Lies are from the devil and when we speak them it is as if we are his children.  Following in his footsteps.

                                                            iii.      In fact it goes further than that.  Revelation lists lying among other sins that will cause people to be in hell.  In fact, if you will indulge me in a song…Sing Revelation 21:8

                                                           iv.      Lying isn’t something that is minor, it is a big deal.

c.       Ephesians 4:25 – “Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.”

d.      God wants us to put away lying and falsehood and instead be honest people.

e.       We need to stop lying to God, be honest with him when you pray to him

f.        We need to stop lying to ourself, be honest with what is actually going on, admit it so you can start making changes, don’t lie and try to deceive yourself into believing your version of the truth.

g.       We need to stop lying to others, be honest when speaking, 100% with no twisting of that truth

h.       Are you willing to take that stand today and ask God to help you to be a truthful person?

i.         Handout cards

050813: OMG #4 -- Holy

Message: OMG! – Holy God

I.                    Introduction

a.       Over the next few weeks we are going to be talking about different character traits of God.  Beyond this, God desires us to be like him, so we will show how we can live out that characteristic in our own lives.

b.      Tonight we are going to look at the character trait of being holy.

                                                               i.      Leviticus 20:26b says, “…I, the Lord, am holy,”

                                                             ii.      We have a God who is holy

II.                 Body

a.       But what does it mean that God is holy?

                                                               i.      The word means pure or morally blameless, not a single defect

                                                             ii.      Illus: My glasses

1.      When I first got them they were perfect, not a scratch, not a defect, I could see out of them and they helped correct my vision problems

2.      They still help me see but they now have marks on them, both smudges from my greasy face that are easily removed as well as a scratch and small chip.  Because of that they are no longer perfect, they have defects and my vision through them isn’t completely perfect.

                                                            iii.      When we say that God is holy we are saying that he is perfect when it comes to right and wrong.  He always does the right thing and he never does the wrong thing.  There is nothing someone can say that he has done wrong.  He is perfect, without one defect. 

                                                           iv.      Now when we talk about holiness we are really talking about his character, who he is deep down on the inside.  But from that character of holiness flows out holy actions.  Because he is internally holy, he is externally holy.  His actions don’t make him holy, his holy nature makes him holy and because of that he can’t help but do holy actions.

III.               Conclusion

a.       Are any of you holy?  No you are all messed up, you have greasy smudges that can be easily removed but then you also have chips and scratches.

b.      Yet when we read from 1^st Peter 1:15-16 we find that God desires us to be holy too.  It says, “But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”

c.       But if you aren’t God, which none of us are, how then can you be holy?

d.      Illus: I once heard a preacher explain these verses this way. 

                                                               i.      If you signed up for a math class or literature class (whichever is most intimidating for you) and you showed up and the teacher started off by saying, “You will make an ‘A’ in this class!  You will do it.  I am a great teacher and you must make an ‘A’.  This material is nearly impossible but you will make an ‘A’” you would have a very difficult time wanting to attend that class.

                                                             ii.       But if you walked into that same class and the teacher instead said, “You are going to make an ‘A’ in this class.  You will do it, because I am a great teacher and I will spend time with you and help you make that ‘A’.  You can do it, even though the material seems nearly impossible you will make an ‘A’.” you would have less of a problem staying in that class.

                                                            iii.      In one the A is your responsibility alone and you don’t have the resources to actually make it happen

                                                           iv.      In the other the A is your responsibility still but now the teacher is going to help you do it so that you can actually make it happen with his help.

e.       When God says, “I am holy, you by holy in the same way, he isn’t saying, “do it all on your own or else.  Even though I know you couldn’t possibly do it on your own.”  Instead he is saying, “Be holy, because I am and I will help you be holy, not by your own power or actions but because of me helping you.

f.        We can be holy when we allow Jesus to change us from the inside through the work of the Holy Spirit.  And then because we have the character of holiness on the inside the actions on the outside will start matching.

g.       We can’t just suddenly start doing holy actions and stop doing unholy ones, we must first allow God to clean out our inside and give us the character of holiness. 

h.       Are there any of you who want that?  Pray