Woodward First Assembly

This Is Us-2-Sanctified

Pastor's Notes:

TEXT
Colossians 3:1-11 NKJV

If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.5 Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, 7 in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them.8 But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, 10 and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, 11 where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all.

INTRODUCTION
Good morning, everyone!
I am so glad you’re here. Last week, we covered the topic of redemption, and what it truly means to bought back from the auction block of sin. We saw the value that each of us has in the eyes of God, and what it truly means to truly be saved.
This morning, I’m going to go old school. You may not know this, but I AM old school. What I mean by that is while it’s ok to modernize the way we do things, the message must never change! What I’m going to talk to you about today is something that I don’t hear much about anymore. In the past, it was taught from a wrong angle, and I believe it caused us to get off into much legalism. Jesus also dealt with that. I believe that today, as we touch this subject, you will see the importance of it. I want to teach today about holiness in the life of the believer, but specifically on the topic of sanctification. Today, the title of this message is called “Sanctified”.
What is “sanctified’?
DEFINITION: It means to “set apart”, or “to make holy”. It also means to be separated and pure from sin.

ILLUSTRATION 
One rule we have at my house is to rinse off your dishes as soon as you are done with them. The idea is to immediately wash away the food and grime left on your plates, bowls, and silverware so that it doesn’t get caked on and become difficult to get off.
Unfortunately, my family (including me) does not always follow this rule. That means that the burned grease, old cereal, and leftover food can get plastered onto the dishes so that it takes more than a bit of elbow grease to remove it.
Sometimes the leftover food seems to become one with the dish and that, no matter how hard we scrub, it will never come off.
That’s exactly how sin can feel when you truly don’t deal with it.
The best remedy for food stuck in this situation is to leave a dish soaking in water for a period of time. This allows the water to loosen up the grime and dirt so that it can be wiped away, usually without much effort.
The power of the water over a period of time is enough to get rid of the dirt and grime that you could not get off no matter how hard you scrubbed.
Breaking sinful habits works in a similar way, but instead of using physical water, we need the water of the Word.
True believers in Jesus Christ are already clean in God’s sight because of the blood of Jesus Christ, but can still struggle to live in obedience because they live in the flesh. That is why we need to know not only what can help us live more obediently, but Who can help us live more obediently as well.


TRANSITION
That’s exactly the way we should be as believers. We are saved! God’s nature has been imparted on the inside of us. Our spirit is born again! The issue is that we have the flesh and our mind still to deal with.
Those are the things in which we must ourselves work on.
On the cross, Jesus sanctified us by His precious blood. That is HIS responsibility.
Now once we are saved, we are to sanctify ourselves. Most of all Paul’s letters to the epistles teaches this. It doesn’t nullify the work of the cross. What it simply means is that Christ’s sacrifice has set us free, but now we must choose to walk free and stay free.
If and when we mess us, we confess it, repent, and get back up! 

BACKGROUND
In the time of writing this book, Paul was a prisoner in Rome. Although he had never visited this church personally, he had an interest in it because it started as an outgrowth of his ministry in Ephesus. It had gotten back to Paul that gnosticism and lewdness had slipped into the church. He was concerned that these false ideologies and doctrines might destroy the work there, so this letter was sent to remind them of exactly what they have and how they should respond.

APPLICATION

1. Our Position
- He uses the word “if” here, but we know He is saying “If you are saved, look at this.”
- Where is our position? We’ve been seated with Christ!
- We have died with Him.
- We are buried with Him.
- We are raised with Him.
- We live in Him.
- We will be glorified with Him
- So as saved people, we ought to think different. We all know that what you think about affects what you do.

2. Our Prescription
- We are told to put to death the flesh. This is the part we don’t like.
- Contrary to what people may think in today’s culture, Christians are supposed to live different.
- We have to crucify it. Why? Because even though we are saved, we can still be enticed and tempted to do the wrong thing.
- He names some stuff.
- Fornication
- Uncleanness
- Passion
- Evil Desire
- Covetousness
- Anger
- Wrath
- Malice
- Filthy Language
- Lying
Surely these are not an exhaustive list of sins, but are likely the ones they were dealing with. What are they a big deal? They are a big deal because they aren’t the characteristic of Christ! Are we perfect? No! We shouldn’t be excusing these things. They have consequences.

3. Our Purpose
- Put on the new man
- Renewed in Christ
- Why? The world needs to see Jesus in us!
- Even if we aren’t perfect, if we are saved, we will have a desire to reflect His nature and character in our lives. When we miss it, His Spirit convicts us, and we correct that and do it differently next time
- The Word will renew us (Romans 12:1-2)

CONCLUSION
In the old days, holiness was all about the outside (hair, clothing, etc)
Jesus addressed this with the Pharisees. They had it all together on the outside, but on the inside, they were like the white tombs opposite of the Temple Mount. (Matthew 23:27-28)
How do we continue to allow Him to change us? From the inside out.

More: The Vocal Gifts

This Is Us: Redeemed

Better Together: Graced

More: The Role Of The Evangelist

Better Together: The Value Of Friendships

Are You Here? with Pastor Paul Troquille

This morning we are pleased to have Pastor Paul Troquille with us. Pastor Paul is a missionary to Tanzania, Africa. Pastor Paul teaches us about being sensitive to the calling of God on our life. His text comes from Acts chapter 9.

More 2:The Role Of The Prophet

Mythbusters-9-The Bible Isn't Relevant Today

This morning Pastor Brad finishes the Mythbusters series with the myth that The Bible Isn't Relevant  Today.

Pastor's Notes:

2 Timothy 3:16-17 NKJV
16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for [a]instruction in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

INTRODUCTION
Good morning, everyone!
My family and I are glad to be back this morning. We had a much needed disconnect and do over trip before school starts back up in a few weeks. I hope that you’ve enjoyed this series. I’ve endeavored to teach some very diverse and controversial topics. I catch flack for doing so, but I do it because I strive to teach the whole counsel of the Word of God. I don’t believe we should run from that which other’s deem difficult.
Today, however, I want to finish this series with a very passionate topic that I pray you will also become passionate about. It’s the reason why next month, we will embark on a reading plan together as a church. I want to bust the myth that “The Bible Isn’t Relevant Today.”
ILLUSTRATION
I believe with all my heart that the church today has a major issue facing it. It’s not the issue of worship. We have great music and songwriters. It’s not service. This generation loves to volunteer and be a part. It’s not community . This generation loves relationship.
So, what is it, you may ask?
I believe the greatest challenge we face today is a good grasp of the Word of God.

Don’t get me wrong—I love technology. You may hate it, but if you aren’t engaging in the electronic world, you are quickly becoming obsolete. In a world full of MP3’s, text messages, social media, and storage in “the cloud”, you have to learn some new things to be efficient in the 21st century.
However, I believe technology has made us dumber concerning the Word of God.
Let me explain...
TRANSITION
I love having the words on the screen. It’s especially helpful to new believers and people who forgot their Bible at home. It’s also great in a day full of different translations and versions of the Scripture to have one version on the screen for everyone to read from.
Yet, what has been a blessing has now crippled us.
Most people don’t know the books in the Bible or where they are located. Likewise, most people don’t know how to find a scripture without Google!
There were days where we were memorizing Scripture, and now we reply upon the search engine to do all of our study.
To top it off, social media is full of meme’s that contact single verse, out of context scriptures.
LifeWay Christian Research reveals some major issues concerning Bible study:

-  9 out of 10 American homes own a Bible. The average however, owns three.
-  Only 1 in 5 people surveyed had read the Bible through at least once.
-  1/3 of Christians read the Bible once a week.
-  Only 85 percent of Christians believe the Bible is the infallible word of God.
- Many millennial believe that Biblical stances on homosexuality, abortion, and drug use are outdated, and culture trumps the Scripture.

If this indeed is true, Houston, we have a problem!
Because of this shift in culture, people who preach the Bible standards of truth are considered bigots, intolerant, and hateful.
As one person said “Truth sounds like hate to those who hate the truth.”
But even against stream in this current culture, we must teach and preach the Word of God. It indeed changes lives!

BACKGROUND
In our passage, the Apostle Paul is encouraging his son in the Lord Timothy to hold fast in preaching the Gospel. Even in his day, there were those who wanted to have their ears tickled with messages that make them feel good.
But notice he said “all Scripture” is given by inspiration of God .
That means ALL of the Word is both practical and relevant to us. The word of God isn’t a buffet. We don’t have the option of picking what we like and leaving what we don’t. We have to take it as a whole.

APPLICATION
1. It gives us foundation
-  He uses the word “doctrine”.
-  Doctrine can be defined as “a defined structure of beliefs”.
-  So why is reading the Bible important? It tells us what we believe and why we believe it!
*The Trinity *The Holy Spirit
*The infallibility of Scripture *Healing*The Name of Jesus* etc
2. It gives us correction
-While the Bible isn’t to be viewed as a book full of negativity, I think we wrongly view correction as negative. The truth is, in this generation, we don't like to be corrected. We get offended when anyone tries to show us any error we may be walking in.
- When we are walking in bitterness, unforgiveness, or unrighteousness, the Scripture can put us back in the right working order.
3. It gives us instruction
- The Scripture is an instruction manual.
- If you want the greatest level of effectiveness out of a product, use it in accordance with the user’s manual!
- It can teach you how to walk with God, love people, handle your money, raise your Children, and anything you could possibly think of.

CONCLUSION
The Bible is not some archaic book that is out of touch. It’s a roadmap to successful living.

Mythbusters-8-Everything Happens For A Reason (The Lost Episode)

This was originally recorded on June 30,2019. In this lost episode, Pastor Brad takes on the Myth that Everything Happens For A Reason.

Pastor's notes:

Romans 8:26-28 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.28And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

INTRODUCTION

Good morning, everybody! I’m so that glad each and every one of you are here today. Today, I’m happy to be bringing the Word to you. I’ve been so excited about this series.

Today, I want to teach you a lesson I have learned from the Scripture. I want to address the Myth: “Everything Happens For A Reason”. ILLUSTRATION
In this life things happen that can boggle our minds:

I heard the story a few years back about a young couple who were on fire Christians. Both had kept themselves sexually pure for marriage, and were anticipating spending their life together. They got married, got in the car headed to their honeymoon, and the husband was killed instantly in a car wreck. They were godly kids. I can’t wrap my head around that! But in those moments and situations, it helps us cope with the unanswerable by saying “You know, everything happens for a reason.” or, “You know, God’s ways are much higher than our ways.”

TRANSITION

In these moments, sometimes the things that we say can cause others to get angry and blame God for the misfortune that has come their way. I believe some of answers come from an often misunderstood topic called suffering. That is exactly what our text is about today.

BACKGROUND

In our text this morning, Paul is writing to the believers at Rome. Paul, being the perfect spokesperson for suffering, tells them that the things we are going through now are nothing compared to the greatness of eternity that we will experience on that great day when we are in glory.

Paul then tells the believers several great things about suffering:

a. b. c.

All things are working together for our good Nothing can separate us from God’s love

If God be for us, then who can be against us?

This morning, I want to look at some areas of suffering, and to see that it isn't always God or the devil trying to cause havoc. We are going to learn that yes, everything does happen for a reason, but sometimes that reason is not some big spiritual reason.

APPLICATION

1. SUFFERING CAUSED BY SELF

Several years ago, there was a tragedy in my family where a young teenager was killed by fireworks. Rather than follow the instructions that came with the items,they forgot that and ended up making an explosive device that exploded and took his life.

At my grandmother’s funeral, I overheard a a family member talking to sthe pastor saying “I can understand why God took my mother, but I can’t understand why God took my grandson.” The pastor replied, “Well, everything happens for a reason.”

My family member had some bitterness and resentment toward God for something He didn’t do!

God didn't take their family member. A consequence of choice caused a life to be cut short.

Ecclesiastes 7:17 says

Do not be overly wicked,

Nor be foolish:

Why should you die before your time?

In other words, we can leave prematurely.

Did he go to heaven? He was a believer, so yes. Was that God’s perfect will for his life? no. Did God get glory out of it? OF COURSE! An auditorium was with precious young people, and many accepted Christ as savior due to the message. If we are God’s people, He always causes the glory to come out of our sufferings and trials.

We just don't understand why stuff like that has to happen. We just have to make sure like Job, we don't curse God or charge Him wrongly. God is good.

2. SUFFERING CAUSED BY THE DEVIL

In this also, we can't always blame the devil either.

I heard of a true story once of an evangelist who had a flat tire on the way to preach for one of his friends. This experience led to him being over an hour late for the meeting. Upon arrival, the guest minister began to tell his friend how “the devil” was responsible for flattening his tires, etc. The pastor, being a good friend, told him.

“You can blame the devil all you want, but it’s YOUR fault. You buy those cheap two ply tires and you drive them until they are bald!”

This man didn't have a devil problem. He had a common sense problem. There is however a demonic suffering. This kind we can rebuke and handle. We this with people who are afflicted with demon spirits.
3. SUFFERING CAUSED BY OTHERS




How many people innocent people are killed each year by the misdoings of others? Murders, accidents, drunk driving, and all the like?

My mind reverts to September 11, 2001. During the great tragedy of the world trade center, many innocent lives we lost at no fault of their own. It was caused by the decisions of others.

4. SUFFERING CAUSED BY THE FALL




The truth is, we live in a fallen world. A lot of suffering we go through

in the natural realm is simply because of the fallen world. When sin entered, it messed everything up. Storms, catastrophes, etc are all caused by the fact that we do live in this sinful world.

The atmosphere and things of the like are also affected by the fall.

5. SUFFERING BECAUSE OF CHRIST

Christians are persecuted all over the world by people who hate God. Churches are burnt. Children are murdered.
The Foxes Book of Martyrs is filled with these stories.
Jesus told us in John 15:18 that the world would hate us.

CLOSING

We must realize that God is good all the time, no matter what. He never ever promised that we would not suffer. He did however tell us that He would work it all out to our benefit.

It can be easy to ask the question “Where is God in the middle of all this?” He is there in the storm. He is there in our crazy decisions. He is there in the middle of demonic attack.

As a matter of fact, Jesus was the picture of suffering. Where was God when Jesus died on the cross, He was right there. God used the suffering of Jesus to work together OUR GOOD!!!!

God doesn't cause all the bad in the world, but He also doesn't allow it to be wasted.

CONCLUSION