Listen to the Message Here 119964687
Get Connected – Be A friend Of God
All of us have bitten the hooks before and all of us have needed a Fresh Start
2 Corinthians 5:14-20 The Message
14-15Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own.
16-20Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you
#1. Christ Offers Anyone (everyone) A Fresh Start
2 Corinthians 5:16-17 16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
#2. We Need Inside-Outside Help
The Meaning of Inside Out or “In Christ” (v. 17 and v. 19)
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
#3. Anyone In Christ is a New Creation
17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
#4. A Fresh Start means that We See Others through God’s Eyes
16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.
#5. We See Ourselves as God Talkabouters
2 Corinthians 5:18-20
All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.
We have the unique Calling to Tell the world about God’s Forgiveness.