A disciple is someone who follows Jesus and does what He says.

CONTENTMENT.

Those who Live the New Life…are CONTENT that “Jesus is better” than anything the world can offer.

13 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 But he said to him, “Man, who made me a judge or arbitrator over you?” 15 And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” 16 And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, 17 and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ 18 And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Luke 12:13-21

1. Jesus is better than all the “stuff” that I own.
2. Jesus is better than my self-reliance.
3. Jesus is better than my earthly thinking.

1. Be aware that God owns it all.

10 When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11 Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12 Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13 and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14 then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15 He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16 He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17 You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18 But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

Deuteronomy 8:10-18 (NIV)

2. Be thankful for God’s provision.

3. Be careful not become prideful.

4. Be reminded that God did it.

5. Be a good manager.

6. Be a generous giver.

Romans 8:12-18 (ESV)

12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. 18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

People who have received the gift of “the new life” want others to receive the “new life” too!

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[b] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.
Matthew 28:19-20

17 On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal.

18 And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus,

19 but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus.

20 And when he saw their faith, he said, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”

21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to question, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?” 22 When Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answered them, “Why do you question in your hearts? 23 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the man who was paralyzed—“I say to you, rise, pick up your bed and go home.”

25 And immediately he rose up before them and picked up what he had been lying on and went home, glorifying God
26And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.”
Luke 5:17-26

1. You must have a BURDEN for people to come to Jesus.
2. You will face BARRIERS as you share the gospel.
3. Do you really BELIEVE that Jesus can change your friend’s life?

“You will never live the new life until you acknowledge that God is the creator of and the reason for Life.”

“It’s difficult for us to understand where we are in Christ until we take an honest look at where we are without Christ.”

“Then gospel is the Good News that God is saving His people by His grace through their faith in Jesus.”

“Walking in the New Life”

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Romans 6:15-19 (ESV)
What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

Romans 6:16 (ESV)
Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?

Romans 6:17-18 (ESV)
But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Romans 6:19 (ESV)
I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

Romans 12:1 (ESV)
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

We will never walk in the new life, until we surrender ourselves as slaves to righteousness!

“For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”.
-Romans 1:16-17 (ESV)

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:4-10 (ESV)

The Gospel is good news that God is saving people by His grace through their faith in Jesus.

The Gospel is Good News.

Is the Gospel good news for you today?
1. The Gospel isn’t good news if you are misunderstanding the Gospel.
2. The Gospel isn’t good news if you don’t really believe it.

The Gospel is good news that God is saving His people.

The Gospel is the good news that God is saving His people by His grace through their faith in Jesus.

“You will never live the new life until you acknowledge that God is the creator of and the reason for Life.” -- Lordship!

I believe it’s difficult for us to understand where we are in Christ until we take an honest look at where we are without Christ.

Ephesians 2:1-3 (ESV)
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.


1. We were dead!
You were dead in the trespasses and sins.

Romans 3:23 (ESV)
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Ephesians 4:18 (ESV)
We are alienated from the life of God

2. We were disobedient.

Ephesians 2:2-3a (ESV)
2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—
3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind…

a. We followed the world
b. We followed Satan
c. We followed our own passions and desires

Jeremiah 17:9 (ESV)
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

3. We were condemned.

Ephesians 2:3b (ESV)
...and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

Hebrews 10:31 (ESV)
It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

But as one bible commentator states:
“God will act in a righteous manner, not in unrighteous revenge or in an outburst of anger. He will punish sin and sinners justly.
The good news for the Christian is that God’s wrath has been poured out not on us but on the Savior.”

1. Come to church each Sunday or Wednesday…if you have to miss…listen to the podcast of the sermon on our website or app. Remember Wednesday night service if you are out of town on the weekend.

2. Use the “Living the New Life” study guide for personal Bible study

3. Enroll in one of our Financial Peace University groups that begin January 7th.

You will never “Live the NEW Life” until you acknowledge that God is the Creator of…and reason for…life.

Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth.”

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
    in the image of God he created him;
    male and female he created them.
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Genesis 1:26-28 ESV

1. You are… created BY GOD.
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27

Respect life.

See the bigger picture in all of God’s creation.

Psalm 19:1-4 NIV
1 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words; no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

2. You are…created in the IMAGE of God.

26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.

3. You are…created to be under the AUTHORITY of God.

For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him.” Colossians 1:16

Epiphany. It’s a great BIG, “Ahaa!” moment.

2 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; 4 and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. 5 They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet:

6 “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

for from you shall come a ruler

who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ”

7 Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” 9 After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. 12 And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

Matthew 2:1-12

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men

Matthew 2:16

1) They both Responded to the Message

· The Wise Men Sought out the Savior

· Herod Sought to Preserve Self

2) They both Recognized the Moment

· The Wise Men Worshipped and Gave of their Treasures

· Herod Willfully Guarded what he Treasured

3) They both Reacted to the Memory

· The Wise Men Learned and Followed

· Herod Learned and Became Furious