Grace in Tullahoma

A man with broken arms went to see the doctor.

Man: “Can I play piano after my hands are healed?”

Doctor: “Yes you can”

Man: “Amazing, I couldn’t play piano before”.

Who has ever broken something? Sometimes the bone has to go and be reset. Sometimes it has to even be rebroken. Here’s how God works. You must first be broken in order to be made whole. This sermon…and the content within it is going to be somewhat like resetting a broken bone. It may not be pleasant, but it is necessary for our growth and vitality.

2 Corinthians 4:7-12

7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you.

We won’t be dwelling on verses 7-9, but we see some of Paul’s heart and resolve in his following of Christ. It’s because Paul shares in Christ’s sufferings that his own are a benefit to others. When you live as one who is unbroken though this world should have broken you, you know what you are doing? You are demonstrating Christ.

Think about Jesus! If anybody was afflicted, crushed, perplexed, driven to despair, persecuted, and struck down, it’s Jesus! It’s the whole reason He came! Listen to what is said about Him 700 years before He came.

Isaiah 53:3-53 He was despised and rejected by men,    a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;and as one from whom men hide their faces    he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he has borne our griefs    and carried our sorrows;yet we esteemed him stricken,    smitten by God, and afflicted.5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;    he was crushed for our iniquities;upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,    and with his wounds we are healed.

Think about this. What’s the worst the world can do to you? Kill you? They can only put you to death. God’s power is able to raise the dead! That’s why Paul is not completely crushed. He knows that when he is crushed, God will bring resurrection.

Here’s what I want to talk about…how do you carry around in the body the death of Jesus? He says that is how the life of Jesus is brought forth and manifested in us. So, what does it mean and what does it look like to carry around in the body the death of Jesus?

We are going to see, hopefully, what it means to die. To die to self. To carry with us the death of Christ. And, hopefully, by the end of this message, you will say, “Pastor Jacob, I want to die.” *haha*

We should carry around the memory of Jesus’ death. We should never forget the death of Jesus. Death is one of those things that you can’t shake. If you’ve seen it, it is etched in your mind forever. But we so often forget the death of Jesus. Remember. Remember what it is that hung Him on that cross. Every single one of your sins. Remember the pain and agony that He endured. Hebrews 6 talks about those people who have claimed Christ and then act and live as if He doesn’t exist and have fallen away from Him, it says they are crucifying Jesus all over again. It is your sin that nailed Him there. Not just all your sins of the past, but the next sin you are going to commit again. Another blow of the hammer onto that nail in His hands. Another spear in His side.

When we remember the death of Jesus, it should cause us to HATE our sin. I remember after my sister died, I went through a phase where I would say to myself, “I HATE SIN.” Because of what Romans 5 says,

Romans 5:12 – Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because

Change the World – Part 1

We are ordinary people, but we can change the world with God and for God.

I have a fascination with superheroes…not just that I like watching them on the big screen or reading about them…no, my fascination is deeper…I want to be one. I want to be a superhero…like really bad. But…there’s a problem…I’m not a superhero. I am super!…but super ordinary. I think that the reason I so want to be a superhero is because I’m often so overwhelmed with my ordinariness BUT, what I LOVE about God and what I LOVE about the Scriptures is that God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

In the Bible, there is not a single person that changed the world that is not ordinary. (Moses, Abraham, Elijah, Daniel, the disciples, Paul) But these are some of the superheroes of the faith. In the Bible, God used a lot lesser known people to change the world. (Barnabas, Ananias, Rahab, Gideon, Judah, Tamar, Aaron, Tabitha and many others) These are people we often overlook in the Scriptures, but because of these people, the world has been changed.

Tonight we’re starting a series, looking at some of these people…these ordinary people that God used in extraordinary ways…to change the world.

(We need to start at the beginning though…before we can change the world, we must deeply understand something…)

1. The World Needs Changing.

God created an absolutely perfect world (Gen. 1-2). God created, God created, God created…and it was good…That perfection…that goodness didn’t last long though. Adam and Eve sinned, and it fractured this perfect world (Gen. 3). From this point on, not only were Adam and Eve messed up…not only has all creation been messed up…but we are messed up to…broken from that goodness and perfection…longing to get the goodness and perfection back.

Rom. 8:19-23 – 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

So, this world and everything in it drastically needs changing! But how can we change the world?! It has been this way for a VERY long time! We change the world when we bring it a little closer to God’s original design. We don’t change it all at once. We change the world one world at a time…one life at a time.

(But this is still a big hard thing…and I know we change the world one world at a time…but HOW CAN I DO THAT?!)

2. We can change the world WITH God.

I want us to read some mind-exploding verses

1 Cor. 3:9 – For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.

2 Cor. 5:21-6:1 – 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 6 Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

1 Thess. 3:2 – and we sent Timothy, our brother and God’s coworker[a] in the gospel of Christ, to establish and exhort you in your faith

Think about what this means for a second. We…fallen, ordinary people…are co-workers with God…perfect, holy, and powerful. We…people…ordinary people…are co-workers with God…the Creator and Sustainer of all things. If you are a Christian, this is who you are working with and beside.

John 1:3 – All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

All things were made through Him. Think of the power that goes along with that! No wonder we can boldly proclaim Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

But, changing the

God’s Love on Display

John 13:34-35

What is this? (put pictures up on the screen)

Duck, baseball, trumpet, jack-o-lantern(For each one ask, “How do you know?”)A Christian (puts up the words “A Christian”)

How can someone know you’re a Christian? By seeing you go to church? Not necessarily. A lot of non-Christians go to church. Going to church makes you no more a Christian than being in a garage makes you a car. By hearing what you believe? Not necessarily. You can know all the answers and even believe them and not be saved. I can say I believe that stool will hold me up and even tell you why it will, but unless I demonstrate it, you can never know if I truly believe it or not. By seeing it lived out. How? By the way you LOVE. We are to love God and love our neighbor (sums up all commandments). And by the way you LOVE other Christians. This is the model Jesus gave. He calls it a new commandment.

John 13:34-35 – “34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

We’re going to break down this passage and see what it means and what it means for us.

“A new commandment I give to you…” What is this commandment and how is it new?The commandment is to love one another. This doesn’t seem new, though.Jesus summed up all of the commandments by saying to love God and others[1]How is it new?Nowhere in the Bible is this phrase “new commandment” found except for in the Apostle John’s writings, here and in his first and second letter.[2]  Why of all the New Testament writers and apostles did only John pick up on this term?

1 John 2:7-8 – “7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8 At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.”

It’s new because it is demonstrated and embodied in Jesus. 1 John 2:8 – “…is true in him and in you…”

John 13:34– “…just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.”

Think about John for a second. He was reclining right next to Jesus the night that Jesus said these words. This stuck in John like no other thing. I think it completely changed how John viewed everything – Jesus, his own life, the mission that was before him. He saw Jesus single out Judas, who would betray Him, yet wash that same disciple’s feet, along with Peter who would deny Him. He partook of that last supper where Jesus spent time in community and fellowship before He was to willingly walk to the slaughter. He saw Him mocked and ridiculed and tried and falsely accused. He saw Him beaten to a bloody pulp. He was at His feet while blood was dripping down from His cross…Jesus, bloody and dying, there asked this same John to take care of his mother Mary.

John, unlike the other disciples, saw Jesus die. Saw Him breathe His last. I’m sure John replayed these moments over and over in his mind. And it started that night when John was sitting right next to Jesus and heard those words. Those words that He was about to fully embody. “Love one another as I have loved you.” This moment was so impactful for John that essentially his whole first letter is a guide to this new commandment Jesus gave and he referred to himself as the one whom Jesus loved.

Hear some of what John has to say about what this means…this new command to love one another as Jesus has loved us.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. (1 John 4:7)

We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. (1 John 3:14)

By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteou

Psalm 23

If you could ask God anything, what would it be?

If you could have a conversation with Jesus, what would you say?

Who in here ever feels like God is distant? Like you can’t hear God?

Here’s what I want to tell you tonight…God often speaks. We rarely listen.

GOD SPEAKS

God speaks through High Word.

Hebrews 1:1-2 – “1 Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.”

We see in this passage both the Old Testament and the New Testament referenced. We see that in the past, God spoke. But we see that He speaks in the present as well. How? Through Jesus. But, we can’t talk to Jesus. Do you know the main reason why the books of our New Testament are the ones included in our Bible? They are confirmed to come from those in close proximity to Jesus. When we read God’s Word, God is literally speaking to us.

I want to ask you…if you feel like God is silent, how much time are you spending in His Word? Those who spend time in the Word spend time with God. For many of you, God is distant because you have distanced yourself from His Word.

God speaks through His Spirit.

The main way the Holy Spirit speaks to us is through the Scriptures.

2 Timothy 3:16 – “All Scripture is God-breathed…”

The word “breathed” often is the same word used for Spirit. Just like in the beginning when God formed man out of the dust, He “breathed” life into Him. This same word means Spirit, He breathed His Spirit into him. God’s Word is that same kind of life-giving breath.

So, though the Spirit speaks primarily through the Word, He also dwells within the believer and speaks to us. It is often a “still, small voice.”

1 Kings 19:11-13 – 11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper. 13 And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

That voice will never lead us in a way that’s contradictory to God’s Word. So, if you hear a still, small voice that says something contrary to the way God has set forth, that is not God you are hearing, but it’s either your own sinful nature, the lies of the culture, hormones, or Satan himself.

Often, we are not quiet enough to hear the still, small voice. We make our wants and desires known, and we drown out any quietness with busyness and noise. No wonder we often can’t hear God speak. We aren’t quiet long enough to listen.

The most common word my son says is, “What?” Then I have to repeat myself 2-3 more times. Multiple times a day. It’s exhausting, and often I lose my patience. Often, I give up and say, “I’m not saying it again.” I think God sometimes says the same with us. We miss out on opportunities and blessings because we aren’t open, available, and listening. Sometimes I’m more patient and will repeat what I said. I think God is more like that. But my son can’t hear me because of two reasons. 1) He’s distracted by something. 2) He’s so incredibly loud all the time. I think it’s the same way for us.

So, when God speaks, what does He say and how should we listen? We shouldn’t just listen to hear what He says, but we should listen and be open and available for whatever He says.

GOD CALLS YOU TO HIMSELF

God has been calling those who are distant from Him to Himself since the beginning. As soon as Adam and Even sinned, God called out their names. He asked where they were. He knew where they were, and i

2 Timothy 2:14-19

Psalm 100

2 Timothy 2:8-13

2 Timothy 2:1-7