- We have been saved from Death to Life. (Eph 2:1-5)
- We have been saved from Condemnation to Blessing. (Eph 2:6-7)
- We have been saved from Self-centered Works to God-centered Works. (Eph 2:8-10)
- Do I do this to be seen by others or by God?
- Do I do this out of obligation or joy?
- Do I do this to feel important of show God’s importance?
- We have been saved from Meaninglessness to Purpose. (Eph 2:10)
Guest Speaker - Taylor Brown
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!
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00:00-00:01
What's the best gift you've ever been given?
00:02-00:05
You opened it, you were so excited, your mind was just blown.
00:05-00:07
And you couldn't wait to play with that gift.
00:07-00:11
You couldn't wait, like you're in bed at night, I can't wait to wake up, I can't wait 'til sleep is over.
00:11-00:13
I can't wait to use that gift.
00:13-00:14
Does anyone, can anyone think of anything?
00:16-00:16
Anyone?
00:17-00:18
Uncle Reej?
00:20-00:23
By the way, this is my whole like family, like support group section, if anyone was wondering.
00:26-00:32
When I was a kid, I got a bag of Roman soldiers and chariots and horses.
00:33-00:35
That was my favorite gift.
00:35-00:36
Okay, cool.
00:37-00:37
Anybody else?
00:39-00:40
Is that Jay?
00:41-00:44
When I was 16, I got more than 100.
00:45-00:49
My favorite song was "Oversize." That's cool.
00:50-00:50
Okay, one more.
00:51-00:51
Trav?
00:53-00:53
Favorite gift?
01:00-01:06
Cool. Okay. Well, actually, in this box, I have the best gift I've ever been given.
01:07-01:11
Can anyone guess what's in this box? No, not you guys, because most of you know what it is.
01:11-01:14
But everyone back there, can anyone guess what's in this box?
01:16-01:20
No. Oh, now I look bad. Okay.
01:21-01:23
Anyone have any other guesses? One more guess?
01:27-01:28
Close. Close.
01:29-01:33
It's actually the best video game system ever.
01:34-01:35
A Nintendo 64.
01:36-01:37
Who remembers N64?
01:39-01:43
I remember when I first got this, I was like 7 or 8, I was freaking out.
01:43-01:46
I was so, my whole, my little kid mind was just blown.
01:46-01:48
I couldn't believe I got this gift.
01:48-01:51
And what was the best game for N64?
01:52-01:52
John Persic?
01:53-01:53
You remember.
01:55-01:56
No, man.
01:57-01:57
Goldeneye.
01:58-01:59
This is your game.
01:59-02:00
It says Persic on the back.
02:06-02:07
OK.
02:07-02:13
Well, actually, I actually have a video of me opening up an N64.
02:14-02:15
Who wants to see that video?
02:15-02:16
Does anyone want to see it?
02:16-02:18
OK, don't judge me.
02:20-02:21
I'm pretty excited in this video.
02:22-02:25
And I'm trusting you by letting you watch this.
02:25-02:30
And if you're confused which one I am, I'm the little boy whose voice is so surprisingly high.
02:31-02:33
So let's get this video going.
02:38-02:39
[VIDEO PLAYBACK] -No way, what's that?
02:39-02:40
Wait, how am I going to choose those?
02:41-02:41
Wait.
02:42-02:42
-Uh -oh.
02:43-02:44
-Oh, there we go.
02:44-02:45
-No way, what's that?
02:45-02:46
Wait, how am I going to choose those?
02:46-02:50
He keeps, he keeps, he keeps uh...
02:51-02:52
One more!
02:52-02:53
We're gonna need more!
02:54-02:55
Yeah!
02:57-02:57
Yes!
02:58-02:59
Thank you!
02:59-03:01
DK's coming up too close.
03:01-03:04
I'm gonna have to get the other fish down the whole half of the thing.
03:05-03:05
What?
03:06-03:07
Easy, easy.
03:07-03:08
What do you guys think?
03:08-03:09
Thank you, Dad!
03:09-03:09
Thank you, Mom!
03:09-03:11
I missed all the fish you had here.
03:11-03:12
How'd you know?
03:12-03:14
You know the stream, isn't it?
03:14-03:14
Yeah.
03:15-03:15
Huh?
03:18-03:22
>> I think the best part of that video is that my brother actually dips me.
03:23-03:24
Like we're dancing or something.
03:24-03:26
Like I was the female in that situation.
03:28-03:30
I mean, I remember when I got-- I was so excited.
03:30-03:32
I played this for years.
03:32-03:33
I was so excited about it.
03:34-03:37
And then after a couple years, a new system came out.
03:37-03:38
What was it, PS1 or something?
03:39-03:41
Then PS2, then Xbox 360.
03:42-03:45
I just put this in my basement where it gathered dust for years.
03:46-03:49
Every once in a while I'd take it back out, I'd plug it in, and I'd play it.
03:49-03:51
But it was never really the same relationship ever again.
03:51-03:54
I never really had the same excitement playing it like I did before.
03:55-03:57
And you're probably wondering, "Taylor, why are you talking about the N64?
03:58-04:05
What's it have to do with anything?" Well, I think, if we think about it, I think the same experience can be had with the Gospel.
04:05-04:08
That we receive this amazing gift in Jesus Christ.
04:08-04:10
We receive life, purpose, hope.
04:11-04:13
and we're so excited about when we first receive it.
04:14-04:16
We're on fire for Christ, we want to tell everyone about it.
04:17-04:25
After a certain amount of time, we get used to it, and even bored with it, and we end up putting it in the basement of our minds, where it gathers dust for years.
04:27-04:32
And as I was preparing this message, God was just showing me that I need to hear this.
04:33-04:41
I don't think anyone's going to benefit from this message more than I have, because God's been so working on my heart about how complacent I've become with the gospel and how bored I've become with it.
04:42-04:45
'Cause how much greater is the gospel of Jesus Christ than N64?
04:47-04:48
There's no comparison.
04:49-04:59
But I always, it seems like I'm on fire for Christ, I'm telling people about Christ, and all of a sudden I just get used to it, I get bored with it and I move on.
05:00-05:06
So I pray that for us who have opened this gift before, we are Christians.
05:07-05:16
that today would be a time to remind us of all that we have in Christ, because in Christ, we've been given the best gift of all, and this gift is the best life of all, amen?
05:18-05:24
Okay, so I'm going to read the passage I have for today, Ephesians 2, one through 10, so if you wanna turn there.
05:25-05:28
And I just wanted to ask you, out of reverence for God's word, will you please stand as I read this?
05:29-05:30
Thank you, I appreciate it.
05:34-05:35
Okay.
05:36-06:01
It starts out with, "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins "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, "among whom we all once lived, "and 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.
06:02-06:13
But God, being rich in mercy because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, he made us alive together with Christ.
06:14-06:15
By grace, you have been saved.
06:16-06:29
And raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.
06:30-06:33
For by grace you have been saved through faith.
06:33-06:35
And this is not your own doing.
06:35-06:41
It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
06:41-06:52
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
06:52-06:53
Let's pray.
06:54-06:58
God, I come before you and admit how unworthy I am to preach your word, God.
06:59-07:04
I thank you so much for all that you've done in my life, that in Christ I have been saved, I have been made new.
07:05-07:12
Lord, I pray for every single person in this room, whether you would touch our heart with your word, you would speak in and through me, God.
07:13-07:14
Lord, we all need you in this room.
07:14-07:20
I pray we'd never get used to the gospel, Lord, that it would always bring us excitement, God.
07:22-07:25
Lord, thank you so much for what you are going to do in this place.
07:25-07:26
In the name of Jesus, amen.
07:27-07:28
Okay, you can be seated, thank you.
07:29-07:38
So, I think more so than other verses in the Bible, I think Ephesians 2, 1 through 10 covers the awesomeness of the gift we've been given in Christ.
07:38-07:41
And there's four different aspects of this gift I want to go through today.
07:42-07:48
And the first aspect is that in Christ we have been saved from death to life.
07:49-08:03
Look what it says in verse 1, "And you," that's all of us, you, plural, "were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked." This verse is saying that apart from Christ, you're dead.
08:04-08:11
Now you're thinking, "Okay, Taylor, I don't really get that because I'm not a Christian, or even before I was a Christian, I wasn't dead.
08:12-08:27
I inhaled, I exhaled, I walked around, I ate, I had family and friends. That doesn't really make a lot of sense to me." Well, when you read this verse, it's really saying that you are dead spiritually if you don't have a relationship with Jesus Christ.
08:28-08:32
Because truly living is knowing and being in relationship with Jesus Christ.
08:34-08:38
In John 17 3, Jesus is praying to the Father in the garden before he's going to be crucified.
08:38-08:53
And he says, "This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." So Jesus is saying, if you don't turn to him, if you don't know God, then you are dead.
08:54-08:59
I know this isn't a flattering picture, like what's the best way I can describe people?
08:59-09:01
Oh, they're dead. Okay, thanks. That's great.
09:02-09:06
It's really offensive to our minds, like that's so rude, why would you say that?
09:06-09:09
But it's true. It's true, right?
09:10-09:15
The Bible says that apart from Christ, we are cut off from God because of our sin.
09:16-09:18
And we can't be in relationship with God.
09:18-09:23
on the doctor's table of life, we are spiritually unresponsive without a pulse.
09:25-09:31
And that we are incapable of living the life that God offers us in Christ.
09:32-09:40
And because of that, we will spend this life dead in our sins spiritually.
09:41-09:47
And if we don't turn to Christ, we will spend eternity dead in our sin in hell.
09:47-09:48
That's what the Bible says.
09:51-09:55
I think it's interesting because a lot of times we hear people say, you know, we're sick in our sin.
09:55-09:57
No, we're not sick, we're dead.
09:58-09:59
We can't do anything.
10:00-10:01
We can't help ourselves.
10:01-10:02
Lauren, you're a nurse.
10:02-10:04
Can dead people really help themselves that much?
10:04-10:04
No?
10:05-10:05
Yeah, I don't think so.
10:06-10:11
You need someone outside of yourself, someone outside of you to revive you and bring you to life.
10:12-10:13
And keep going.
10:14-10:24
He says, "Following the course of this world." So Paul is saying right now that apart from Christ, we're all walking down the wrong path.
10:25-10:32
That Jesus said in Luke that apart from him, we're walking down the broad and easy path.
10:32-10:34
And it's easy, everyone's going that way.
10:34-10:39
But it ultimately leads to destruction, despair, and brokenness.
10:42-10:43
And we reject the ways of God.
10:44-10:44
We reject his word.
10:44-10:46
We don't think God's thoughts.
10:46-10:47
We don't like what God has to say.
10:47-10:48
We want to do what we want to do.
10:50-10:55
He keeps going and says that we are following the prince of the power of the air.
10:55-11:00
And in that verse, he's saying that we were all under the power of Satan.
11:01-11:02
We were all deceived by Satan.
11:03-11:09
It says in God's word that Satan has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the glory of Christ and see the gospel of Christ.
11:10-11:11
Please listen to me.
11:11-11:12
Satan is real.
11:12-11:14
He's not a made up concept.
11:15-11:20
He is real and he hates us, and he doesn't want us to experience a life that God has for us.
11:23-11:29
And he wants to distract you from the true source of life, and he wants you to live a defeated and broken life.
11:32-11:43
Paul keeps going and says, "The Spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, "among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind.
11:43-11:46
There may be some people in this room who think, well, I'm a good person.
11:46-11:52
I mean, compared to most people, I don't murder anybody, I don't sleep around, I'm faithful to my wife, I'm a good father, I'm a good person.
11:54-12:03
You see, you may not be a terrible person in the eyes of God, but, I mean, in the eyes of the world, but to God, He can't look at your sin.
12:03-12:06
He is a holy and perfect God who cannot stand sin.
12:07-12:12
And there's not one of us in this room who doesn't need the grace of Jesus Christ.
12:13-12:15
We all once lived out of our distorted desires.
12:15-12:17
We were all sinful.
12:20-12:24
No matter how good we seem, there's something inside of us that's wrong.
12:27-12:28
We are sinners by nature.
12:28-12:32
We are born in sin and by choice, we constantly choose sin every day.
12:34-12:45
And he keeps going and says, And we were by nature, just like I said, by nature, we were born in it, children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
12:48-12:49
God hates sin.
12:49-12:52
He is a perfectly holy God.
12:52-12:56
He is so set apart from us and so different, we can't even understand Him.
12:57-12:59
He cannot stand sin and He has to punish it.
13:00-13:00
He has to.
13:02-13:08
And because of our sin, we're all under the wrath, the divine anger and judgment of God himself.
13:10-13:14
Now this situation in verse one through three couldn't be more serious.
13:14-13:15
It couldn't be more dark, am I correct?
13:16-13:21
And God would be perfectly within his rights to close the book right there and say, that's the end of the story.
13:22-13:26
They're dead in their stands, they're falling in the ways of this world, they're under my wrath, they're dead, that's it.
13:28-13:29
We would deserve that.
13:29-13:30
I would have deserved that.
13:31-13:34
But as you read on, I think this is the best phrase in the whole entire Bible.
13:35-13:36
I get so excited every time I read this.
13:37-13:38
He says all these things.
13:39-13:42
I was lost under the wrath of God, fallen away to this world.
13:43-13:43
What's it say next?
13:44-13:57
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love of which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.
13:58-13:59
By grace you have been saved.
13:59-14:00
Isn't that awesome?
14:01-14:01
Isn't that awesome?
14:04-14:21
See, God loves all of us so much that he gave his only son, who came to this earth, lived a sinless life that we couldn't live, and he died the death we should have died on the cross so we could be free and have hope and not be under the wrath of God.
14:22-14:22
Isn't that awesome?
14:23-14:23
Amen?
14:24-14:24
Isn't that awesome?
14:25-14:25
(congregation applauding)
14:28-14:33
See, I was dead and I had no true life, but God raised me to life.
14:33-14:35
He breathed his life into me.
14:35-14:42
I was following the ways of this world, which leads to despair, brokenness, and hell, but God intervened.
14:42-14:46
He put me on his path, which leads to joy, freedom, and hope.
14:47-14:58
I was lost in my sin under the wrath of God, but God poured his wrath on his own son, so I can go from being a child of wrath to a child of God.
15:01-15:08
And no matter who you are, no matter what you've done, no matter how dark and hopeless you think your story is, God can change your ending.
15:10-15:16
There's no story in this room that is so bad, it's so sinful, that the words but God can't be added to the story of your life.
15:16-15:20
The story of your life doesn't have to end in all the things that you've done before.
15:20-15:21
It can be changed.
15:21-15:25
And some of you think, well, Taylor, that's good for some of you, that's good for you, but not for me.
15:25-15:26
No, listen to me.
15:27-15:28
God can change your ending.
15:29-15:32
He is the author of life himself, and he can make a rewrite to the ending of your life.
15:33-15:38
There's no one in this room where God can add, but God to your story and everything changes, amen.
15:39-15:47
My life, across the pages of my life, were written depression, pornography, and self-hatred, but God intervened.
15:48-15:53
He wrote, but God in the story of my life, and Jesus Christ changed everything, and I'm not who I used to be.
15:54-15:56
I have to believe that's the story of most people in this room.
16:00-16:04
So please don't give up on the people in your life who seem far from God.
16:05-16:08
Don't give up on those people if they seem to hate God and they couldn't be farther away.
16:09-16:12
They may seem too far gone, but so were you, and so was I.
16:13-16:19
We were all dead in our sin, but we serve a God who can bring the dead to life.
16:19-16:20
There is no one God can't save.
16:21-16:27
So don't stop praying, don't stop sharing, don't stop believing that God will do something, amen.
16:29-16:29
Okay.
16:30-16:37
My second point, the second aspect of this gift is that we have been saved from condemnation to blessing.
16:38-16:38
Let's keep reading.
16:39-17:04
Paul writes, "And God raised us up with him "and seated us with him in the heavenly places "in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages "he might show the immeasurable riches "of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus." I love this verse 'cause it's saying one of the reasons that God has saved us, I'm sorry, one of the reasons that God has saved us is to bless us.
17:04-17:07
He wants to show us how much he loves us.
17:07-17:10
He wants to pour his kindness upon us.
17:10-17:17
And when Paul writes, "raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus." When you read that, it's kind of like, what?
17:18-17:19
What's that even mean?
17:19-17:23
I was reading that, me and Jeff were talking about this and we're just like, how can I even communicate what this means?
17:23-17:25
'Cause we barely understand what it means.
17:26-17:30
But I was doing some studying, while you guys were doing whatever you were doing this past week, I was studying this verse.
17:32-17:38
And it actually means that we are literally seated on the throne of God.
17:40-17:46
Isn't that awesome? He's saying that in Christ, spiritually, we are seated on the throne of God.
17:47-17:54
That our identity is no longer in sin, in defeat, it is in the victory of the King, Jesus Christ.
17:56-17:59
and that we don't have to be victims anymore, we're victors in Christ.
18:00-18:06
Some of you may have been victimized, abused in your past, and that has become your identity, but in Christ it doesn't have to be anymore.
18:07-18:12
Your identity can be a son and daughter of the living God who rules and reigns over the entire universe.
18:14-18:21
That once we become saved, once Jesus comes into our lives, we are adopted sons and daughters of the living God.
18:22-18:24
And we have an inheritance that is unbelievable.
18:25-18:30
And one day it will blossom into us ruling and reigning beside the living King of the universe.
18:32-18:33
That's unbelievable to me.
18:33-18:35
I was reading that like, oh my gosh, this is awesome.
18:35-18:36
I can't believe that.
18:39-18:51
And then Paul continues and says, so that in the coming ages, he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace and kindness towards us in Christ Jesus.
18:53-18:56
that God has blessed us with immeasurable riches.
18:56-18:57
It can't even begin to be counted.
18:57-18:58
It's incalculable.
19:00-19:03
I just think how amazing it is that God has extended this invitation to us.
19:04-19:12
It'd be like if the president of the United States called, let's see, called Bob up today and said, hey, Bob, I want you to move into the White House today.
19:12-19:15
I want you to help me run the Oval Office for the next couple of years.
19:16-19:17
That's unbelievable.
19:18-19:19
That'd be amazing.
19:19-19:25
But in a much greater way, the King of the universe has extended the same invitation to each and every one of us, amen.
19:26-19:27
That is amazing.
19:31-19:36
And what God has prepared for each and every one of us in Christ, it's unbelievable.
19:37-19:38
We can't even begin to dream it up.
19:39-19:44
The Bible says that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has fully imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.
19:46-19:54
That we can't even, with our small human sinful minds, we can't even begin to comprehend all that God has for us in eternity, all the blessings He has for us.
19:54-20:00
That one day, we will see our Savior face to face and we will worship Him and live in His presence forever.
20:01-20:02
I don't know about you, but that's what keeps me going.
20:03-20:08
That's what my life is all about, living for that day when I get to see Jesus Christ face to face.
20:09-20:11
And I realize it was all worth it, it was all true.
20:13-20:15
So believe it or not, God is not out to get you.
20:16-20:19
He is not a stingy father, you have to convince to bless you.
20:19-20:20
He wants to bless you.
20:20-20:23
He is our loving, gracious, heavenly father.
20:24-20:28
And like a good father, a good parent, he loves to bless his children.
20:29-20:36
And yes, of course, he doesn't give us things that will hurt us, like you don't give your children things that will hurt them, but he always gives us good gifts.
20:36-20:40
He wants you to come before his presence and ask for things and say, "God, I need you.
20:40-20:42
I'm in desperate need of you.
20:42-20:44
Please answer my prayer." He loves that.
20:44-20:49
We don't have to twist God's arm. He wants to hear from you. He wants you to be in prayer before Him.
20:53-20:59
Okay, the third aspect is we have been saved from self-centered works to God-centered works.
21:03-21:12
Now Paul keeps going and he says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing.
21:12-21:20
It is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
21:20-21:23
See, none of us has saved ourselves.
21:23-21:25
None of us has earned this gift.
21:26-21:29
The Bible says that salvation belongs to the Lord and Him alone.
21:30-21:33
Salvation is 100% God's doing and 0% our doing.
21:34-21:43
Now some of you may be thinking, "Well, Taylor, I prayed the prayer, I walked down the aisles, excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, and I walked down the aisle, went to the front of the stage, I knelt down, and I prayed.
21:44-21:45
I'm the one who had faith in Christ.
21:46-21:53
Well, actually, according to this verse, it says that we've been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing, it's the gift of God.
21:54-22:02
So, apparently, even our faith is a gift from God, that we don't even have within ourselves to believe in God, that God has to grant us this faith.
22:05-22:08
God revealed Himself to us, and He gave us the faith to believe.
22:09-22:12
And we couldn't help but respond to his grace.
22:13-22:17
You can't earn this gift, you can't work for it, you can only receive it.
22:19-22:20
You can't boast in it.
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You can't, I didn't go around Man 64 and say, "Oh, look what I worked so hard for everyone in fourth grade.
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Look, I earned this, look at that, look." No, my parents got me because they love me and they care for me.
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I didn't pay for this at all.
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I didn't deserve this.
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But in a much greater way, we always, a lot of us go around and we say, "Oh yeah, I'm a good person.
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I do good things.
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I've really done a good, I haven't really had a good year.
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I go to church every week, I pray every day, I read my Bible, I get my devotion time in.
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It's great.
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I'm doing awesome." We fail to forget that our salvation is a gift from God.
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And a lot of times we try to earn this gift and some of us know we can't save ourselves, we feel we need to keep ourselves in the family of God by earning it.
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How would you feel if most of your parents in this room, if your son or your daughter came up to you and said, "You know what?
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My mom, dad, I've been having a bad year.
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I haven't been listening to you.
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I haven't been obeying you.
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I haven't been doing my chores.
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I'm not worthy to be called your son or your daughter.
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Just give me a list of chores and I'll do them so I can earn my place in this family." Parents in the room, would that make you happy if your kid said that?
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Did that make you happy?
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No, it would break your heart.
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I don't have a son myself, but I have a nephew.
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And I can just imagine a little kid coming up to me and saying, "Taylor, I don't really listen to you.
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"I kick you a lot, I punch you a lot.
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"I don't deserve to be called your nephew.
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"What can I do to earn it?" That would break my heart.
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But in a much greater way, we do it to our heavenly Father every day.
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Like, "God, I don't deserve your mercy.
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"I don't deserve your grace.
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"What can I do to make myself feel better "and earn this and to stay in this family?" We can't, we can't.
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It's entirely the grace and mercy of God that keeps us in his family.
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And a lot of times, us trying to earn it either leads to self-righteousness when we think so highly of ourselves, or self-hatred, where we know we can't get anything right and we beat ourselves up every single day.
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So some of you are thinking, "Okay, Taylor, I understand what you're saying.
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"How can I know if my works are selfish and they're not God-centered.
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Well, I actually have a list of three different things to check our hearts by.
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Number one, whenever you're doing these, whenever you're working, whenever you're doing things for the Lord, ask yourself this question.
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Do I do this to be seen by others or by God?
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Whenever you're helping out in church over the weekend, whenever you're going down to the soup kitchen to help the homeless people, are you doing this so other people can see you and say, Wow, what a great Christian, he is awesome.
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Are you doing this because you love God, you care more about what he thinks about you than everyone else thinks about you?
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Number two, do I do this out of sheer obligation or do I do this out of pure joy?
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You roll out of bed 7.30 in the morning to go help out at church.
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Oh, I hate going there every single Sunday to help out.
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Oh my gosh, this is the worst.
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Now I'm not saying we're never ever gonna have a selfish motive or we're never ever gonna feel that way.
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But I'm saying, if that's your heart all the time, that it's a burden to do the things of the Lord, it's a burden to help people out, then we need to check our hearts and see what our real motive is.
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Are we doing this out of sheer obligation 'cause I have to, or out of pure joy that I get to do this?
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Number three, do I do this to feel important or do I do this to show how important God is?
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I'm not trying to guilt you guys here.
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I'm not trying to do a drive-by guilting of all of you.
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I really want you and myself to check our hearts and see, am I doing this out of gratitude and love for God, or am I doing this for selfish reasons to earn my place?
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And whenever people ask you, "How do you know you are saved?" If the words out of your mouth are, "Because I," that's a red flag.
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but the words that come out of your mouth immediately are because God, because Christ did this for me.
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That's a good sign.
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So number three, number four, we have been saved from meaninglessness to purpose.
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Paul goes on in verse 10, and he says, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
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That word workmanship actually in the Greek means masterpiece, work of art.
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That each and every one of us is created by God.
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He knows each and every one of us.
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He's given us talents and abilities and the personality that we have for a reason.
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and God has invited us to work alongside of Him.
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How awesome is that?
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We get to do the work of our Father.
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I remember back when I was, I think it was second grade, my dad came to my school for career day and he's an orthopedic salesman, so he, I don't know the best way to describe this.
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People always ask me and I'm always like, I don't know.
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He's an orthopedic salesman, so he provides people with, well, how would you say it, Dad?
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You can just, total hip and knee implants, thank you.
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I remember he came to my work and he had his scrubs on, because he's always in the surgery room.
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He comes in with his scrubs on, and he had my own pair of scrubs for me, that were for a little kid.
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I remember I felt so cool, I was changing in the bathroom, I was like, "Oh, this is so cool, this is so awesome!" And I remember we're showing everybody all the different implants that my dad has, the different bones and stuff, and I'm like, "Yeah, yeah, this is what this is, yeah, yeah, look at that, yeah." I feel like I actually know what I'm talking about.
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I remember how cool I felt.
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I'll never forget that day working alongside my dad.
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Do you remember that?
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That was so great.
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I think we have a picture of it, but I couldn't find it.
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It was so awesome.
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But in another way, God himself, our father, has called us to work alongside of him.
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He doesn't need us or want us.
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He doesn't need us, but he wants us.
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My dad didn't need me to help him that day.
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He knew what he was talking about.
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He didn't need me, but he wanted me to help him 'cause he got joy out of seeing me help him, and I got joy out of helping him.
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See, God doesn't need us, but he wants us.
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And isn't it awesome to realize that God has created us for good works and he's prepared them beforehand for us.
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How awesome is it to realize that even before you were born, even before this world came into existence, God knew you, he had a plan for your life, he knew exactly how he was gonna use you for his glory and for others' good.
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That for Travis, he had this list prepared for you and was like, "Man, I can't wait for Travis I'm gonna bless him, I'm going to bring him to life, I'm gonna empower him, I'm gonna give him gifts so he can use them for my glory and others good.
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I can't wait, he has no idea what's in store for him.
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Isn't that awesome that God knows us?
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He wants us to be a part of his plan for this world.
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We've been given front row seats to seeing Jesus Christ transform this world.
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We've been given front row seats to see families change for the glory of Christ and seeing addictions broken in the name of Jesus.
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There is no better life than this.
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We see the living God change people.
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That is awesome.
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But I think a lot of times we give up this best life of all because we feel like God has given us nothing and we have nothing to offer.
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But listen to me, that God has gifted each and every one of you in this room with something.
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He has not forgotten you.
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And it is a slap in the face of God to say, He forgot me, He's given me nothing.
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I have nothing to offer, nothing.
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That is an offense to God himself.
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That is an offense to His goodness and His mercy and His kindness.
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You're calling God a liar.
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'Cause in His word, He says He's gifted each and every one of us.
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And He's prepared works for us.
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I remember for the longest time, I just had the pity party for myself.
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I had nothing to offer.
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I'm not good at music, I'm not good at sports, I'm not good at anything.
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I have nothing to offer anybody.
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And even now I struggle with that.
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I would love more than anything to do what Darren and the rest of the band does, come up here and lead you in worship.
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I would love to do that, but I can't.
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I remember my brother tried to teach me a guitar and he's like, "Your fingers are too big.
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You can't do this.
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Like your fingers are so awkward.
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You can't do this." I tried playing piano, but I gave up.
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I just couldn't do it.
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And for the longest time, that really, that kind of messed with me.
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I couldn't do certain things.
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I would ignore the gifts that God has given me.
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'Cause the word says, "Don't neglect the gift you have been given." And I was doing that for a while.
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Because of that, I missed out on a lot of the works that God had for me.
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I don't want to miss out on that anymore.
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Like God has given each and every one of you gifts to make disciples for Christ and to build up his church.
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And not utilizing your gifts, it's like not using, not utilizing your talents, it's like not playing with this.
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It's not using the whole part of the gift.
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It's like, "Okay, this is awesome. I'm going to plug this in." I'm gonna plug this in.
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Got my game all ready.
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Okay.
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Oh, this is pretty boring.
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Okay I'm done.
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But in the same way, we've been given this gift in Christ, but we're not using all of it.
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utilizing the talents and the abilities that God has given you is like plugging this in and putting the game in but not even playing it. Do you remember how boring it is for your kid to watch somebody else play games? It's torture, it's terrible.
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Every time my brother and I would get a new game, like, "Oh, let's play co-op, let's play co-op." No, we can play co-op whenever I beat the game myself. Oh, that's great. So I just sit there like for four hours on end, just be like, "Okay, this is great." No wonder so many Christians are miserable and bored. We're not living the life that has called us to live.
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That God has called you to use the gifts and talents you've been given to build up his church and to make disciples and see people's change for the glory of Christ.
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We're missing out on so much.
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I'm tired of having a pity party for myself and not taking advantage of the opportunities that God has given us.
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So if you're thinking, okay, Taylor, I understand.
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I've been given gifts, but I don't know what they are.
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I don't know how to use them.
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Please, after service, talk to Jeff, talk to myself, and we'll find a way to get you plugged in.
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We would love nothing more than to sit down with you and talk about how God has gifted you, how he wants to use you in his church.
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We would love nothing more.
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We can use you.
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We all need each other.
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I need you, you need me.
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We need each other.
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Not one of us is unneeded.
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No matter how small your role, it is important and needed.
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So please don't leave this room thinking that God's left you giftless.
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And please take steps today to utilize the gifts that God has given you.
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Okay, conclusion.
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The main reason I love this passage so much is because it's saturated with Christ.
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It just says, "In Christ, with Christ, in Christ, by Christ." That in Christ, we are saved and made alive.
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That God has united us to himself and raised us up with Christ.
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We are on the throne of God in Christ.
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God has lavished undeserved blessing and kindness on us which was purchased for us in Christ.
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And in Christ we are recreated and empowered to live a life of true meaning and walk in the works that God has prepared for us.
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If you try to live this best life of all apart from Christ, you're going to fail.
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I'm gonna fail.
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If you try to live this life apart from Christ, you'll forever be lost in a search for meaning.
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You'll never find it.
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But if you stop and accept this gift of the gospel, you stop and unwrap the gift, God inspires you and opens up your heart to open up this gift, you will find all that you were looking for, not all that you failed to find before.
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So I pray if you haven't opened this gift, if you don't know Christ, God would open up your heart and He would inspire you to open this gift.
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And if you do know Christ in this place, but you become bored with it and you've put Him in the basement of your minds, I pray that God would fill you with a passion again for the gospel and all that He has for your life.
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because in Christ we've been given the gift of the best life of all.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Ephesians 2:1-10
Breakout Questions:
Pray for one another.