Selfies - What's wrong with me but right with us
Restored relationship with self
understanding who we are by our context
The Fall of Man produced Brokenness on 4 levels-
- Broken relationship with God
- with Self
- with Others
- with Stuff
The day I met Jesus…I became we and me became us.
Self-promotion, Self-protection, Self-provision,
Orphan Spirit. We are in covenant with an Everlasting Father. Pride (self promotion), Walls (self-protection) and Worry (Self- provision) should have no place in us or in this body. We are one in the Father.
God chose a man named Abram…
Genesis 17:1–9 (NIV84)
1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be blameless. 2 I will confirm my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” 3Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.” 9 Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.
The Abrahamic Covenant with God was a shadow of the one we have with Christ.
Similarities:
- Required a “walk with God” and blamelessness
- Confirmation happens through multiplication
- Significant personal transformation and covenant name change
- An inheritance which could not be earned
Jeremiah 31:31–34 (NIV84)
31 “The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
Hebrews 8:6 (NIV84)
6 But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.
Luke 22:20 (NIV84)
20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
In Christ:
- We must abide in Him and let His word abide in us.
John 15:4 (NIV84)
4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
- The gospel will multiply through us 30, 60, and 100 fold.
Matt. 13:8 Matthew 13:8 (NIV84)
8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
- We are transformed by His Spirit in our inner being and receive a New Name
Revelation 3:12 (NIV84)
12 Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.
- We are brought into an inheritance we could never earn,
1 Peter 1:3–5 (NIV84)
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
God wants you in His Covenant Family. He doesn’t have any orphans who have no family to identify with. Your identity should be connected with His People.
Many of you are still trying to Self-Promote, Self-protect, and Self-provide. That is an orphan spirit on the inside of you.
God is your Heavenly Father. He sets the lonely in families so they can discover who they were always meant to be without having to elevate self!
Start your Covenant with God today- Jesus has done the hard part
John 1:11–13 (NIV84)
11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
Get to know His Covenant Family- The People of God-
Matthew 18:19-20
19“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for themby my Father in heaven.20For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Learn to live for God together
Hebrews 10:24-25
English Standard Version (ESV)
24Andlet us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,25not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, andall the more as you seethe Day drawing near.
You will never know who you can be without US
Covenant brings transformation
Wednesday nights in September I will be teaching the biblical foundation for where we are headed as a church. We will be taking the full time for training. If you don’t want to be lost regarding where we are headed, I suggest you be there. We can’t keep doing things the way we have and expect different results. Starting this week, please be at the Wednesday service, if you want to be in on where we are going as a church. We will start promptly at 7.
Also, all this month we will be working on the theme, “Live together or die alone.” Don’t miss a single service. They will be extremely helpful in understanding our future together.
Oct. 4-5- Friday night and Saturday morning will be a major milestone for you and for me! I will present my Doctoral project…the culmination of the last 7 years of my education. Please be here. It matters to me, to us and to our community. Mark it down on your calendar now!