Message: Set Apart
I.
Introduction
a.
We are finishing up our Welcome to the TAB
series by looking at the last reason we do things together as the TAB: Being
part of our world. We are going to look
at this over the next 3 weeks, what it actually means to be part of our world.
b.
Last week we talked about how when we get saved
we become Christ Bearers, meaning we carry him around with us wherever we
go. Tonight we are going to look at what
that should do for us personally, next week we will talk about what that should
be doing for those around us, then finally we will finish with a party.
II.
Body:
a.
Set Apart (invite 3 up who have done this)
a.
Have you ever set aside a plate of cookies and
some milk for Santa? Who was supposed to
eat and drink it? You had put it aside
for him to have, not your parents, not your siblings, him and him alone.
b.
How did you set it out? Did you just throw it on the counter? Did you put it on a plate and in a
glass? Did you try to give him the best
or the one that has fallen apart already?
Did you leave a note so that he knew that it was for him?
c.
What would you have felt like if someone else
had eaten/drank it? What would have you
have felt like if you had eaten/drank it?
What if Santa had taken it and given it to someone else? What if that person was hungry or thirsty, to
death? What if he saved it for later
instead of eating it right away?
b.
Set Apart (part 2)
a.
Sometimes we set things apart for others or even
ourselves to have. They are meant only
for that one person to decide what to do with.
b.
I wasn’t raised in a family that did Santa
Claus. But I have experienced this idea
of set apart before. When I was younger
I set aside money over a summer so that I could buy a telescope. That money I had determined was for me alone
to use, and I had set it apart throughout the summer with the thought in mind
that I would spend it on a telescope and I did.
But what if I had determined instead that it was my money and I would
instead give it away or that I would buy some books instead? It would be fine because it was set aside for
me to do with what I chose.
c.
Set Apart Spiritually
a.
Read 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 – “Do you not know
that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters
nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor
the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom
of God. And what is what some of you
were. But you were washed, you were
sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the
Spirit of our God.”
b.
We are all sinners, with no way to go to heaven,
no way to have a relationship with God, but he made a way. His Son, Jesus, died so we could have
forgiveness of sins. And some of us have
accepted him as both our Savior and Lord, allowing him to wash away our
sins.
c.
We may have had a past life that was horrible
but he cleansed us from it. That is how
we became a Christ Bearer, meaning we carry him around with us, but because we
carry him around with us we should start to look more like him.
d.
The Bible used the word Sanctified (meaning we
are set apart to God for him to use).
But it carries with it the idea that he has set us aside to be holy,
meaning pure. That is what he is like,
pure/holy, and it is how we should be becoming.
III.
Conclusion
a.
But in order for this to happen it is a matter
of setting aside different areas of our life to him to use how he wants (and to
purify, to make those areas more like he would want them to be).
b.
Maybe this is your relationships with
boyfriends/girlfriends. Maybe this area
is how you treat your parents. Maybe
this is how you work. Maybe it is how
you use entertainment. Maybe it is the
friends you hang out with. Maybe it is
the words you use. Maybe it is the way
you dress. Maybe it is much you are
about yourself, how much you lie, how you treat others, allowing drugs, alcohol
and other addictions in your life, using pornography, Maybe it is how you use
your facebook, your tv, your ipod.
c.
Whatever area of that life you are thinking
about when I said they were needing to be more like how Jesus is, to be pure
and you thought…oh man not the…fill in the blank.
d.
Those areas are what are to become more Christ
like, so that as a Christ bearer, you aren’t giving everyone a twisted view of
the one you carry with you.
e.
Is there anyone here tonight that is willing to
admit there is an area in their life that they need to set apart to God? Is there anyone here tonight that is willing
to set that area part to him right now?
f.
Pray
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