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Write Your Story 4 – Redemption
Welcome back to our sermon
series Write Your Story
I
love
stories
Do
you know the story of the 1992 Lithuanian men’s basketball team?
Go
see the movie “The Other Dream Team”
Really,
that is a story of redemption.
REDEMPTION
What
is redemption?
The
action of saving or being saved from something bad (sin, error,
evil)
The
action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange
for payment, or clearing a debt
We
love stories of redemption.
Darth
Vader – Star Wars
But
have you heard of a movie called The Room?
There
are movies where redemption doesn’t happen. The main bad guy isn’t
redeemed in the end. But some of those movies can still be quite
good.
But then there movies that are
just plain bad. What redeems that? What fixes that?
The Room is an awful,
unwatchable movie. But the story of the movie itself is a story of
redemption.
GOD CAN REDEEM ANY STORY
There is a similar story in
the Bible. The main character is just a jerk almost the whole time.
He doesn’t seem to turn around in the end. And it is my favorite
book of the Bible. Jonah! I’m going to give a brief recap. But it
is short, only four chapters, so as homework I encourage you to go
read it yourself. See if my interpretation is off.
Recap Jonah
But
the reason I love it… Not only does it feature a large sea
creature, but I believe there is redemption present there. Not only
are the Ninevites redeemed, but I think Jonah is too. There are
details in the story that only Jonah and God could know. So the only
way we know them is if Jonah wrote them down or told somebody.
But
Jonah doesn’t really look that good in this story. So why would he
share it?
Unless
in the end, he got it. He said, “Look at the incredible things God
did here, despite me.” So in the end he was redeemed.
And
Jonah is one of the few Prophets that Jesus mentions by name. I’m a
little skeptical that Jesus would name-drop a jerk who never got with
the program.
And
we know about it because Jonah shared his story.
TELL
YOUR STORY
We
need to be brave enough to share our stories.
That
is the only way stories persist and get passed on.
Our
story is the story of God working in us and through us. Tell it.
Telling
our story to others is also known as giving out testimony.
That
can be a scary word. But we need to share it.
REVELATION
12:11 NIV – They
triumphed over him [the devil] by the blood of the Lamb and by the
word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
Our
testimony is how we overcome, it is how we triumph.
As
I said, I love stories. I love telling stories. I love hearing your
stories.
But the person I know the most stories about is me.
I
love telling stories about me, all glory to God; but I could tell you
some stories that would make you wonder how is this guy a Care Pastor
in a church?
And that in itself is a story.
I
could tell you a lot of stories. Several are funny. Some I am proud
of.
But
if you asked I could also tell you other stories that aren’t so
fun.
Pain,
Loss, Anxiety, Breakdown, Backsliding, Shame
One
reason we don’t like to tell our story is because sometimes it
involves telling those too.
Sometimes it feels like those are
our only stories.
GOD
CAN REDEEM ANY STORY
But
if we believe in a God who redeems, then these bad stories are part
of a larger picture. They are all things we overcame in our journey
to grow closer to God.
As
I said, our story is the story of God working in us and through us.
I
had to get past all those negative stories in order to be where I am
today. And my story includes telling how God helped me along the way,
and how He put people in my life that lifted me up when I was really
low.
God
can redeem any story
I
was really disappointed at the time, when I didn’t get that job
with NASA…
but that wasn’t the end of the story.
The
story of our church, Redemption Church is a story of redemption.
In
2012 on Easter week, something happened that should have killed this
church.
But it didn’t, and we are stronger today than we were
then.
Most
of the Bible is people telling their story, and a lot of those
stories are stories of redemption:
Samson
Abraham
and Isaac
The
Apostle Paul
Simon
Peter
Barabbas
The
un-named thief on the cross – his story is a story of triumph
GOD
CAN REDEEM YOUR STORY
If
God can do all that, then He can redeem your story too.
If
you believe in a God who can do anything, then why would you think he
couldn’t redeem your story?
Not
only that, redeeming isn’t just what He does, it is who He is.
1 CORINTHIANS 1:30 NIV
It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for
us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and
redemption.
Jesus
is redemption. He can redeem your story, you just have to embrace
Him.
In Jesus, you can literally embrace and receive redemption.
And
He has already done it. Remember our memory verse from last month?
It
starts out:
Isaiah
43:1 NIV “Do not
fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are
mine.
He
HAS redeemed
us. Past tense.
Colossians
1:13-14 NIV For he
has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the
kingdom of the Son he loves, in
whom we have redemption,
the forgiveness of sins.
We
have redemption already.
In
whom do we have redemption? – Jesus!
If
we already have redemption through Jesus, then why don’t we act
like it?
You have been bought at a
great price.
You had a really HUGE debt and it has been
cleared.
You have been saved from some really awful stuff.
Why
aren’t we telling that story?!
GOD
CAN REDEEM YOUR STORY***MUSICIAN***
One
reason we don’t tell our story is because we feel like our
story isn’t really a story of redemption. And maybe it’s not even
that great of a story.
I believe in Jesus. I know
there was redemption there.
But I’m not that remarkable. I’m
not even that great of a Christian.
My story is boring. There’s
no great moment of redemption there. My story is lame.
It’s
The Room. No one would even want to hear it.
Lies, lies, lies. Child of
God, you underestimate yourself.
You are beautiful and you are
precious to Him.
You are capable of doing mighty things, of
overcoming impossibly difficult things,
and having an amazing
story.
Your
story isn’t over yet. Everything up to now was just prelude.
The
great, triumphant redemption can begin right now, as soon as you
decide.
Repent.
Turn to God more fully. He is redemption!
If
you are hearing this message and you don’t feel like you have a
story worth sharing, consider this: You got here somehow.
Maybe
you are watching this video in the year 2023…
But
God has brought you to this moment and now you have the opportunity
to make a decision.
Will
you just go on living your boring story life?
Or will you step
out on faith, take a step toward God, and let the plot twist that
makes your story epic take place? Does redemption begin now?
You
write your story.
View all episodes
By Redemption Church Plano Texas
5
11 ratings
Welcome back to our sermon
series Write Your Story
I
love
stories
Do
you know the story of the 1992 Lithuanian men’s basketball team?
Go
see the movie “The Other Dream Team”
Really,
that is a story of redemption.
REDEMPTION
What
is redemption?
The
action of saving or being saved from something bad (sin, error,
evil)
The
action of regaining or gaining possession of something in exchange
for payment, or clearing a debt
We
love stories of redemption.
Darth
Vader – Star Wars
But
have you heard of a movie called The Room?
There
are movies where redemption doesn’t happen. The main bad guy isn’t
redeemed in the end. But some of those movies can still be quite
good.
But then there movies that are
just plain bad. What redeems that? What fixes that?
The Room is an awful,
unwatchable movie. But the story of the movie itself is a story of
redemption.
GOD CAN REDEEM ANY STORY
There is a similar story in
the Bible. The main character is just a jerk almost the whole time.
He doesn’t seem to turn around in the end. And it is my favorite
book of the Bible. Jonah! I’m going to give a brief recap. But it
is short, only four chapters, so as homework I encourage you to go
read it yourself. See if my interpretation is off.
Recap Jonah
But
the reason I love it… Not only does it feature a large sea
creature, but I believe there is redemption present there. Not only
are the Ninevites redeemed, but I think Jonah is too. There are
details in the story that only Jonah and God could know. So the only
way we know them is if Jonah wrote them down or told somebody.
But
Jonah doesn’t really look that good in this story. So why would he
share it?
Unless
in the end, he got it. He said, “Look at the incredible things God
did here, despite me.” So in the end he was redeemed.
And
Jonah is one of the few Prophets that Jesus mentions by name. I’m a
little skeptical that Jesus would name-drop a jerk who never got with
the program.
And
we know about it because Jonah shared his story.
TELL
YOUR STORY
We
need to be brave enough to share our stories.
That
is the only way stories persist and get passed on.
Our
story is the story of God working in us and through us. Tell it.
Telling
our story to others is also known as giving out testimony.
That
can be a scary word. But we need to share it.
REVELATION
12:11 NIV – They
triumphed over him [the devil] by the blood of the Lamb and by the
word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
Our
testimony is how we overcome, it is how we triumph.
As
I said, I love stories. I love telling stories. I love hearing your
stories.
But the person I know the most stories about is me.
I
love telling stories about me, all glory to God; but I could tell you
some stories that would make you wonder how is this guy a Care Pastor
in a church?
And that in itself is a story.
I
could tell you a lot of stories. Several are funny. Some I am proud
of.
But
if you asked I could also tell you other stories that aren’t so
fun.
Pain,
Loss, Anxiety, Breakdown, Backsliding, Shame
One
reason we don’t like to tell our story is because sometimes it
involves telling those too.
Sometimes it feels like those are
our only stories.
GOD
CAN REDEEM ANY STORY
But
if we believe in a God who redeems, then these bad stories are part
of a larger picture. They are all things we overcame in our journey
to grow closer to God.
As
I said, our story is the story of God working in us and through us.
I
had to get past all those negative stories in order to be where I am
today. And my story includes telling how God helped me along the way,
and how He put people in my life that lifted me up when I was really
low.
God
can redeem any story
I
was really disappointed at the time, when I didn’t get that job
with NASA…
but that wasn’t the end of the story.
The
story of our church, Redemption Church is a story of redemption.
In
2012 on Easter week, something happened that should have killed this
church.
But it didn’t, and we are stronger today than we were
then.
Most
of the Bible is people telling their story, and a lot of those
stories are stories of redemption:
Samson
Abraham
and Isaac
The
Apostle Paul
Simon
Peter
Barabbas
The
un-named thief on the cross – his story is a story of triumph
GOD
CAN REDEEM YOUR STORY
If
God can do all that, then He can redeem your story too.
If
you believe in a God who can do anything, then why would you think he
couldn’t redeem your story?
Not
only that, redeeming isn’t just what He does, it is who He is.
1 CORINTHIANS 1:30 NIV
It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for
us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and
redemption.
Jesus
is redemption. He can redeem your story, you just have to embrace
Him.
In Jesus, you can literally embrace and receive redemption.
And
He has already done it. Remember our memory verse from last month?
It
starts out:
Isaiah
43:1 NIV “Do not
fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are
mine.
He
HAS redeemed
us. Past tense.
Colossians
1:13-14 NIV For he
has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the
kingdom of the Son he loves, in
whom we have redemption,
the forgiveness of sins.
We
have redemption already.
In
whom do we have redemption? – Jesus!
If
we already have redemption through Jesus, then why don’t we act
like it?
You have been bought at a
great price.
You had a really HUGE debt and it has been
cleared.
You have been saved from some really awful stuff.
Why
aren’t we telling that story?!
GOD
CAN REDEEM YOUR STORY***MUSICIAN***
One
reason we don’t tell our story is because we feel like our
story isn’t really a story of redemption. And maybe it’s not even
that great of a story.
I believe in Jesus. I know
there was redemption there.
But I’m not that remarkable. I’m
not even that great of a Christian.
My story is boring. There’s
no great moment of redemption there. My story is lame.
It’s
The Room. No one would even want to hear it.
Lies, lies, lies. Child of
God, you underestimate yourself.
You are beautiful and you are
precious to Him.
You are capable of doing mighty things, of
overcoming impossibly difficult things,
and having an amazing
story.
Your
story isn’t over yet. Everything up to now was just prelude.
The
great, triumphant redemption can begin right now, as soon as you
decide.
Repent.
Turn to God more fully. He is redemption!
If
you are hearing this message and you don’t feel like you have a
story worth sharing, consider this: You got here somehow.
Maybe
you are watching this video in the year 2023…
But
God has brought you to this moment and now you have the opportunity
to make a decision.
Will
you just go on living your boring story life?
Or will you step
out on faith, take a step toward God, and let the plot twist that
makes your story epic take place? Does redemption begin now?
You
write your story.