Guest Speaker: Pastor Greg Allison

good morning everyone, let's stand up, we're going to worship this morning, but before we do that, let's take a moment. Can we thank God who provides us with everything we need? Last week we sang a song called Honey and the Rock We're. We're about to sing that again and we're so excited and if you're wondering what this song means, what is this song? Everything about this song is a statement that God provides in the wilderness, he provides in the fruitful seasons, he is always there. He gives us what we need just like the children in the desert, God provided manna at the right time and God provides what we need this morning so let's praise Him and maybe this morning you are thanking Him for how He has provided for you in those moments. maybe this morning you are trusting him to provide in those moments but this morning we are going to thank him because he always does, he is always what we need when we need it and only he can truly satisfy, he is you can satisfy the sweetness. at the mercy seat now I will prove it it is not difficult to see that only you can satisfy in the desert where I go I do not need to worry now that I know everything I need, what you have is that you are everything I need keep praying you keep moving I keep searching I keep finding It's all I need No matter where I got Jesus from Who you are How sweet it is How sweet it is You keep giving Keep providing Keep on providing You're all I need Pray I have everything I need No matter where I go I don't need to worry about it I I know, it's how sweet you are, oh, how sweet, how sweet it is to trust you, Jesus, come on, let's raise our voices this morning, how sweet. is christ is my firm foundation is through the generations i still have joy in the chaos in jesus he will not fail he will not pay he is then why would he will not will will do it again for you my will not on your basis is that he has never let me down he is faithful through the generations now he will not be will not pray will not fail him you were the world your hidden glory what a beautiful name is the name of jesus christ what a beautiful name is what a beautiful name is the name of jesus is what a wonderful name it is it is for Jesus it is yours he is Jesus' what name of Christ is yours the glory is what a powerful name it is what a powerful name it is what a powerful name it is the name of Jesus Christ my what a powerful name it is that name so powerful is the name of jesus jesus there is no one like you there is no one like you so faithful so true so powerful if you need to be reminded this morning of the greatness of our king jesus let's take a moment and in our hearts just remember that he is who conquered death and sin in the grave and there is no one who can equal you there is no one like you jesus you have no right no one comes close no one compares with you jesus no situation can confront you jesus what a powerful name is the name of jesus jesus what a powerful name is christ what a powerful name is the name of jesus what a powerful name is the name of jesus jesus you sit and have a throne above all we worship you and serve you king jesus we gladly submit to you king jesus this morning and every day of our lives god is for you is for you we welcome you into your presence in our lives we love you jesus and this morning we ask god to open our hearts to receive your word holy spirit do you want to talk to us today, could you bend down and speak to us in a way that only you can?

God in the life of every person God, you know what we need from you today and we trust you to provide for us, we worship you and honor you, Lord, in the name of Jesus. We pray before you sit down if you want to high five or say hello to your neighbor, go ahead and do it before you sit down good morning good morning how is everyone feeling? Today is not good, a couple of you feel like a couple of you. Hey, we're so excited that you're here with us today worshiping our god, the awesome god.

Isn't it amazing? He is doing incredible things. It's a pleasure to see you on this beautiful Memorial Day weekend Sunday. Some announcements for you today and when I say some, I have a lot of work ahead of me. I guess not, I'm just kidding. If this is your first time, I want to say welcome to the first assembly. We are very happy that you are part of it. from our only family here, thank you for coming today. Right in front of you is a connection card that looks like this. If you take it, take a moment to fill it and when the ushers come by, you can put it down. or you can take it out and see the ladies or gentlemen at the welcome center and today they will give you a gift for being our

guest

, so thank you very much for being here.

You know that we just celebrated Mother's Day a few weeks ago. and we had a great time, it was our first mother's day here, uh, at the first assembly and it was amazing, everyone looks so good and now I'm excited for father's day coming up on June 19th, yeah, like a person applauded his father, that's what. cool no i'm just kidding i'm kidding you're saving all the excitement for father's day june 19th man there's a breakfast for all the boys breakfast at 9:30 at byram hall im excited too , Miss. Danae and the amazing team she is putting together are getting ready to have an amazing VBS on July 13-15.

Registration forms are in the bulletin. There are also the places in the lobby of the Byram Hall lobby and down here in the lobby where you can Sign up, you know, I've heard this, it was said a lot that it takes a village and therefore it takes a village to raise children and run a children's ministry and vbs so it is necessary for all of us to do our part, our gifts to be able to reach the next generation and therefore we have the opportunity for you to serve the next generation during vbs so make sure to obtain a voluntary registration and register too, make sure to register your children and register yourself and you can also do it through the face through the link on facebook there is a women's conference that will be held from June 23 to 25 the sheets of registration is in the back this women's conference is going to be amazing uh

pastor

rochelle and her mom vicki are speaking at that conference so you won't want to miss it June 23-25.

A couple more quick things for you if you are sending your child or youth to camp. June 12 is the deadline for the remaining balance. June 12, and then, if I haven't heard if you have a teenager today there is a cookout at Holderman's house just across the river. We want to invite all teenagers to make sure that if you haven't planned it, if you have time, let them. At the house at three we will be happy to give you our address. It will be a great time for all the young people in our church to come together and just relax, connect and have fun.

Great, those are our ads and now yeah, okay. We are clapping for the announcements now yes, right now, I am very excited to say that now is the time for the bows and the offerings that we can give to God now, that should be good. We're getting there, we're getting there, Pastor Greg. We are getting there, we are very excited to be able to give, these are the ways to donate. links but we can go further we know the kingdom builders we are trying to raise 25 000 for guatemala we are doing very well so make sure you have your we need to reach out and help you get it so the people in guatemala can have it. your church and your security and the classrooms to be able to teach the Guatemalans there in your church, so continue giving today, let's pray for that offering.

God, thank you so much for today, I pray that you bless this offering. thank you for blessing our lives so we can bless others, I pray that you will allow us to continue giving, we love you and your children and we pray, amen, you can go ahead and give right now, we are excited, that

pastor

. and Rachelle have some time alone to refresh themselves and take that moment in these next few weeks to be able to pray and seek Scott's face and I am praying that God will give them new dreams and new visions for our church. since they're gone amen and we're excited that they're allowed that, not that they're allowed to do that, um, but to be able to take this time and really focus on what God has for our church. and take some time to freshen up and get recruits back, so today it's an honor to have pastor

greg

here, he's the guy from indiana, so i know pastor

greg

, i've known him for a long time, we got some hoosiers clapping for that, um, yeah, I've known Pastor Greg for a long time, in fact, this is the first time I've met him, he just had a little hair on his head, but that was a long time ago.

He finished, he's been an incredible pastor at Beech. grove and then he planted a church in franklin park and he was there for a while and now for the last five years he's been at the assemblies of god district office and I'm trying to think of one word that can sum it up and there's not just one , the word that comes to mind is gentle and kind, he is the kindest man I have ever met in my entire life and I mean I really do, I'm not just saying that because he's sitting there, but I really mean that he He is a super kind and gentle spirit with him, so we are a very blessed church to have him today.

Could you please welcome Pastor Greg Allison as he brings the word this morning? Thank you, thank you too, thank you very much. wonderful to be here with you today at the first assembly. It's fantastic to be here. My wife Amy and I have been looking forward to this day and we are very happy to be here. Thank you for those kind words Pastor Zach, we really love you. the representation of indiana in his pastoral team here this is how we feel at home. We have great admiration for pastor jeff and rochelle for the Holdemons and we met pastor rachel this morning and found out that she is from Newcastle, Indiana so this is great pastor jeff. was the first youth pastor that I had, the first staff pastor that I had as a senior pastor when we were in beech grove, indiana, we were in our early 30s and the church was yes, and it was a she, amy was much younger, much younger and Pastor Jeff came from North Central University and I still remember him with a feeling of great gratitude towards him.

I'm honored and humbled that he came to work for us, a really smart, wonderful, godly young man, and he did a great job and then he met Rochelle and they got married and I'll tell you a little story before we start, okay, because I know who's been telling stories about me because he's got this pulp, but I'm sure he's been telling stories so I know someone told them. I said he was talking about how he used to live in the apartment above the church. Okay, I lived in that apartment too and I know he wasn't great, but I appreciate it.

Anyway, the story is when Pastor Jeff and Rachelle met. She married our son who is now 21 years old. He was just a little guy and he loved Jeff. She thought the sun had just risen and set on Pastor Jeff, but she called him Fodder Jeff. I told him Nathan, we're not Catholic here, but anyway, Father Jeff, he loved. father jeff and when they got married they said we wanted nathan to be at our wedding, he would bring the rain, but nathan was scared to death by this, it was a big church and there they were trying to get him to the altar and so on.

What we did was at that time the Incredibles were out and he wanted a large size of Mr Incredible, so he said if you go down the hall and to the right, Mom has a Mr Incredible, but to get it you have to put the ring down. the hallway so it was a transaction and when he got to the end of the hallway and moved to where my Mr. Incredible is, we have such wonderful, fond memories of those two and we love them so much, we know he is lucky to have the leadership that they have at the Fergusons at the Holdemons and Pastor Rachel and Donai, we met her today, wonderful people at this church, so, and I just want to say that we recommend this break, this time of rest that they have planned last summer.

Amy and I took a sabbatical for a couple of months that was planned by the district office. It's part of this like a seven year sabbatical cycle where I could just disappear and at that time I tell you there were some moments where the Lord just unloaded on me while I was away so I think this is a wonderful time to rest, time for family, time to focus, time to listen and time to just be you and Jesus, no title, no responsibilities, just you and Jesus, that's how it is. It is important that ministers be able to have that time.

They keep their walk with Jesus and time with family fresh. So I just want to command you that that's really cool and really smart. Good job in that Indiana district and the Kentucky Ministries Network has a great friendship, our superintendents are great friends, so it's wonderful to be here with you today. I just want to ask you to turn your Bibles to Genesis chapter 3. I understand you read from the NIV, so I'm leaving. reading from my phone this morning is fine, I mean, the original was on papyrus, uh, so this is my papyrus for today, uh, I usually like to preach from the book so you can see that I'm preaching from the book, but stillI am preaching from the book and today we are going to be in Genesis chapter 3, we are going to read the word of God and then we will pray.

Now the serpent was more cunning than all the animals, the wild animals that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman. Did God really say that you should not eat from any tree in the garden? The woman said to the snake. We can eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say that you must. Do not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden and you must not touch it or you will die, you certainly will not die, the snake said to the woman, because God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like god knowing good and evil when the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for eating and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for acquiring wisdom, she took some and She ate and also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate it, then both of their eyes opened and they realized that they were naked, so they sewed fig leaves and made themselves coverings, then the man and His wife heard the sound of the Lord God while walking in the garden in the cool of the day and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden but the Lord God called to the man, where are you?

He replied I heard you in the garden and I was afraid because he was naked so he hid and said who told you that you were naked, have you eaten from the tree that I ordered you not to eat? the sin is already present the man said the woman that you put here with me she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate it then the lord god said to the woman what is this that you have done what is this that you have done the woman said the snake deceived me so I ate, let us pray to God, we thank you for your word, we are so grateful for this time to let your word speak to us and train the way we think, shape our thoughts about the world we live in our own lives. and the way you want us to live for you, but most importantly, lord, we pray that we give a lot of importance to jesus today, that jesus will be exalted in this place, that if we hear nothing else, we will hear about jesus and the wonderful hope we have in the gospel the good news of Jesus Christ we pray father that you would anoint us anoint our ears anoint me help me lord to be able to proclaim this with prophetic power I pray lord that you make me able to say things that are not I'm not even prepared for them to be specific to the people in this room.

I pray for all these things and for transformation in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. Last week we again witnessed a terrible tragedy and I am sure you have heard it on every news story. cycle all week about what happened in Texas and what happened in Buffalo and what happens in New York and what happens in California and what happens in rural Indiana and what happens in your backyard and what which he's also been experiencing for the last issue. For years, pandemic war, turmoil and all kinds of division in the country, we can see all kinds of things and then when you add to that all our own personal problems, things that you never thought would happen and that surprise you like this.

Many things appear in life and the more we live, the more we realize that they are part of life, they are part of the world in which we live, in a world that God made, in a world that we have ruined with ours. sin and many people wonder what is happening on earth what is happening in the world let's see a tragedy like we saw last week in Texas and our hearts are breaking and maybe your heart is broken this morning maybe you have come to this place with something in your life that is disturbing you absolutely to the core maybe it's something that has caused you a lot of tears some worry some heartbreak some heartbreak maybe you have anxiety maybe you have post-traumatic stress maybe you have some other type of This is the result of all these things in this world and I know some of you are wondering where is this going?

This is a real disappointment, no, we are going to get to the gospel, we are going to get to the good things, but before we do we have to understand how it came to be this way we have to understand our world we have to understand ourselves we have to understand what it is sin and how it is so devastating and the reason we are heartbroken the reason we shed tears the reason we have disease and pandemics the reason we have death and the reason we have war and corruption and division and racial hatred and everything else the reason we have that is because we by our own choice will have invited sin into this world that God made for us, so we take responsibility for people saying where the sin is.

Sir. I will tell you that we are going to find out towards the end of this message where the Lord is. something about this and he's doing something about it so I just want to encourage you with two things before we start, the first is that Psalm 34 says that the Lord the Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. , etc. If that is you or if that is ever your situation, I just want you to remember that the Lord is near, that he is not abandoning you, that he is not ignoring you, in fact, those are the moments in which you will feel it the most.

You will feel it the most. As you push and draw closer to Him, don't waste those opportunities, don't let them draw you away from the Lord, let them draw you toward the Lord, the second thing I want to encourage you with this morning. The second thing I want to say is that there will be a day when you and I, if you are in Christ, if you are a believer, will appear before Jesus and you will see his face, I will see his face and when I see his face I will be like him he will have transformed my body to be like his resurrected body he will have made me new and there will be no more sin in me no more sinful nature there will be no more corruption because corruption will have been clothed with incorruption he will have transformed my mind my thoughts my emotions he will transform everything about me the things I'm changing I'm in my 50s I can't read this things without these the doctor tells me things that I don't like to hear all that will disappear when I'm in front of him face to face and every tear will be wiped from our eyes and the world will be as it should be and so I just want to encourage you with this this morning, that whatever you're going through in this world right now, whatever you're facing, whatever kinds of situations you're worried about, they don't last forever. , there will be an end and God will take care of it. that there will be an end, amen, so let's delve into our text.

We are experiencing the broken hearts and difficulties of this life because we have experienced the devastating blow of sin with all its horrors and the reason we don't talk about it. A lot of it is because we don't really believe sin is so devastating or horrible that it's not a horror show, but rather we live in it and it's such a part of the soup we live in that we don't really see it. In that way, it's so wrapped up in who we've been before Christ and even after Christ, we're trying to get all these things out, change the way we think, change the way we behave and become like Christ, for what these things are devastating.

They are destructive Sin is absolutely devastating Adam and Eve Adam and Eve did not believe when God said that if you eat from this tree, if you even touch it you will surely die and I think somewhere in there they thought no, no, I don't believe. So they did and then they discovered that when God says something it is true and there were devastating consequences to this, not just this initial sin but a transformation of his entire being, a transformation of the human race, a transformation of every generation that passed. after them a transformation of the world where the whole world was subjected, paul says in romans 8, to uselessness and corruption as far as it groans, so this whole world has been affected by that one decision, so even one sin, Even a single decision is a big problem.

Even though we have made it no big deal, each one of them is Adam's heart was darkened, every part of his being was darkened, his spirit died at that moment, his thoughts changed, his emotions were affected for the first time, Adam and Eve felt insecure about to each other as a couple we are naked well you are the only two who see each other and are married but at the same time you felt alarmed by it you felt embarrassed by it and you felt insecure with each other so it fundamentally changed your relationship, It changed their desires, it changed even their bodies and the world in which they lived.

Adam wanted something that was outside of God's good design, so when God does everything in chapters one and two, he says it's good, this is good, this is good. and he's delighted with it, it's the way I feel after I mow the lawn and pull out all my flowers and my bushes and all the weeds and my garden is well kept and I think this is good, this is how I feel like someone like me. I don't know how that feels, there's always hope that your neighbors are praying for you, so I look at them like this is good, this is good, I love it when you finish a big project, this is good, well the Lord is done a great project and he designed everything perfectly according to his moral goodness and oral holiness he designed families he designed husband and wife he designed man and woman he designed sex he designed food he designed everything and he designed it to be good and he said this is good everything was good and then we screwed it up and that brought to the world the brokenness and misery that we are experiencing, even today, and our human condition has been affected by that, one of the things I want to get to today we want to talk about the effect of sin and understand how it has affected us because if we don't we can't address it properly, but secondly, once we do, I want to look at Jesus and make a big deal out of Jesus this morning because he's the one. who has come to fix it and in every way undoes everything we have made and in every way heals what we have destroyed and restores everything we have broken makes all things new praise the lord if you are in christ We are a new creation where the oldest past and the new have arrived.

One of my friends is remodeling his house and I actually lived in this house as a parsonage, so he likes this house and it was built in the '60s, a beautiful brownstone in Bedford. it's behind a forest it's just a great house and we love living there but we didn't really have the money or the time to do much to the house we just made it as nice as we could and lived well there he came in and now the church has gotten to the place where it can afford to do so, so the church is gutting the house and redoing everything, they're giving it a hgtv, i mean, they tore down the walls, you know, the granite countertops, all the island. nine yards and it's going to be very nice, but when they got there, I asked them: how is this going?

I asked them. Even yesterday, at a university party, someone was going to university. I told them: how are things going? They said well, it's slow. You know, on those shows where they get into something and say, oh, that's going to cost another five thousand dollars, well, that's where we are, I said, well, what happened, well, a plumber came and the pipes are bad. state. They are surprised that nothing bad happened there and then the basement is bad and there are other things that are bad and the wiring and this and that and the other and as they took out the drywall and knocked down some walls they discovered all these things What they never we learned was that you are following me this morning.

I think sometimes we just live life, we're born into the world as it is and we just get used to it and don't really think about what it's really like. Not going behind the walls to really see what's there and that's part of what I'm trying to do this morning is just lay out those things in the word and help us think biblically about that because we might see something like the tragedy in Texas and We might say this is horrible, how could something like this happen? Where is God and then we start blaming God for it?

This is our disaster. Jesus has come to heal us and that is why I have hope for you and me today and for everyone. in this country and on this planet because the gospel offers hope for us who are broken I want to speak with you briefly now and I understand I have two hours Pastor Zach, is that correct? Okay, when we're done, all the Baptists will be finished with their lunch and you'll have an open line uh three things sin is vandalism sin is hostility sin is corruption sin is vandalism sin is hostility sin is corruption and then we're going to end on a positive note with the vandalism of Jesus brings destruction uh an author I like to read cornelius planiga in his book on sin it is a very entertaining book if you like reading about sin this is a great book it is very very interesting says no We cannot understand what sin is until we understand the goodness of creation and the way our wonderful, holy, good god made it to be, so that when we look at the blueprint of how God made it and compare it to what we have now , we can see what should be. and we can also see that things are not as they should be things are not as they should be things are not as they should be god made everything good andagain in genesis 1 2 we see that he made it good and declared it to be good and made it work in a certain way according to his own goodness according to his own holiness and in it there is no darkness so nothing was out of order when he did it everything was in order and if I take uh a use an illustration of a building if I take a plumb line and hang it I can get a correct straight line if I take a square I can tell whether or not my house is built in a square shape, which none of them are, but if you have posted a wallpaper you know that's true, not square, how do we know it's not square?

Because we know what the square is, so there are many people in this world who maybe don't even know if they believe in God, but they believe in justice. on the right and wrong they know when they have been wronged and they feel anger when they know something is not right they feel sorry they feel heartbroken they are like this is wrong and they know it inherently because the lord put it in us they know what the square is and they know when something is not square and there is no way for us to know unless there is a perfect holy and moral god who has designed us to function in a certain way according to his moral goodness and holiness, so if you want look for something that points to the existence of god just look at the whole idea of ​​justice sometimes we can get very angry when we feel violated someone has robbed us someone has done something very bad to us someone has hurt us deeply they turned their back on us or they stabbed us in the back or something happens in work that is very, very unfair and cruel and we say that's not right, we get angry and the reason we get angry is because we know that's not the case. square does not fit the way god wants things to be that is what sin has done it has vandalized what god has designed it is a vandalism of all the good design that god has put in this world vandalism vandalism vandalism of children vandalism of marriages vandalism of work vandalism of privacy vandalism of food vandalism of all kinds of things and for it not to work everything is out of order and the reason is because due to the brokenness there is so much insecurity fear worry anger depression war famine illness homelessness hunger brokenness in relationships dishonesty infidelity abuse pride arrogance negligence selfishness resentment laziness gluttony substance abuse sexual brokenness brutality theft war and we could go on if I opened it up to the floor and asked everyone to mention something we would all come up with something different because that a sin replicated like a virus and those sins replicate and eventually those sins react with other people who are sinners and the sins just multiply sometimes we respond to sin with sin very often we do so even the abused sometimes they can abuse even the person who is deeply hurt can become incredibly bitter and hateful sin is shalom vandalism everyone has heard this word shalom before it is like a hebrew greeting but it is more than that at its core is the idea of ​​human flourishing in its essence is the idea of ​​things as they should be in essence it is this idea of ​​peace with God and peace with others in essence it is just this idea of ​​flourishing and goodness and so what sin has done is it has damaged that and it has destroyed that sin is a vandal and causes harm uh recently I saw the opening of the olympic games I didn't see much of the olympic games but I did watch a little bit and I saw the opening there in china and I thought it was very intriguing because they played that song by john lennon imagine and I thought, okay, I really don't like that song in a lot of ways, the whole message is just wrong, but it asks the right question, you know, imagine there's no heaven, imagine there isn't, you know, and then move on without religion. . and all this I say, okay, I don't like any of it, but he's trying to make us imagine a world where things aren't the way they should be and he knows we should imagine a world where things are the way they should be. be only because he is a sinner, he doesn't know how to imagine what he should be without the word of god in the holy spirit and the model of jesus and so he comes up with something that is really man-centered and evil, true, but He knows something is not right, he knows something is not the way it should be, he knows something is broken and he says this needs to be fixed, just imagine what it would be like if it were fixed and I say, I know what it would be like if they were fixed it would be called new. creation would be called new heavens and new earth is what god is building for us in the lord jesus christ has promised it he set the ball rolling with the resurrection and here we are waiting everyone it will be finished it is coming so you don't have to just imagine it , you know it's happening, God has done something about it, there are a lot of people who are trying to imagine a better world and they don't know how to make it better because they're not trying to do that with Jesus, I think this is what God was referring to when he said to Eve in verse 13, what is this that you have done?

What is this you have done? and it's like an exclamation with eyes wide open. With your mouth wide open, what did you do? Because when she did this and when Adam did this to her, he totally destroyed everything he had ever made and that doesn't mean there isn't beauty in the world, that doesn't mean everything is as bad as it could be, it doesn't mean there aren't things. wonderful things we see all the time, but I think one thing we don't realize is how much it really warped and changed things. and then we have to go back to Eden to see how it should be to know how God will do it in the future.

I also want to encourage you as we conclude this point and it is this. That is why it is so vital and important that each of us in this room stay in the word of God on a regular and daily basis, and the reason is that you don't know how to think and you don't know how. think about this life in this world and you don't know how to fight sin and you don't know what the square is unless you stay in the word and we have many Christians today who don't stay in the word And I was telling Pastor Zach how much I I love that you had Sunday school this morning.

You were studying the word of God together. Your pastor preaches expository sermons. I value it myself, so if you're not in the word, then don't do it. I don't know how to think about things the way God thinks about them and as a result of that we have Christians all over the country who approve of things and do things that are very ungodly and that's because they don't know the right word, they don't know it. Know the word, so firstly, sin is vandalism, secondly, sin is hostility, sin is hostility and causes separation from God and separation from others, sin causes separation because it is an act of hostility , it is an act of aggression when you see in Genesis 3 the serpent entering the garden and that of course is satan um he is simply continuing the act of rebellion that he and the angelic host had against the lord in the beginning and that is why it is being carried out out in the garden to ruin everything that God made and so they do it through deception, he does it through deception, he does it by being clever and he goes in there and works to make the original man and woman hostile and join the war, so I never thought of sin as an act of war. the bible says repeatedly and in the new testament and i know you've been in ephesians it talks about that there our minds are at war with god our thoughts are at war with god our very actions are at war with god when we are not in christ and our minds they are not being renewed by the word our minds are foolish and darkened and evil and resentful of the lord and rebellious against him and that is how we are all born like wow that is so uplifting pastor greg I love that well hey we have to know with What are we dealing with, how can we not? we have to know what we are dealing with, we have to understand ourselves that that sin is enmity sin is open hostility against the lord it is an action an attitude a thought a declaration of independence says I can live my life apart from you I don't need to pray I don't need you, I'm going to try to get up on my own two feet and survive in my existence, I'm going to make it for myself, I'm going to give myself the glory and I'm going to worry sickly throughout my life about my health, money, relationships and everything because the Lord doesn't It's in the center of the orbit of my life but that's how sin thinks I can do it without you I'd rather have life without you I'd rather have this than you and every decision we make is a decision about whether we're going to chase the lord or No, whether we are going to pursue justice or not, and so even as believers, we will be presented with decisions all the time, even though we know that we are right in Christ, even though we have a relationship with the Lord and we know that.

The Lord is working in our lives and all that, I don't want anyone to feel insecure about it, but the truth of the matter is that we must be able to see that every decision we make to sin is like a decision of idolatry, every decision to voluntarily commit sin. it's a decision of idolatry he says i know what it's like to live in a close relationship with the lord i know what it's like to live in a relationship with the holy god i know he's holy i know what his expectations are but now in his face can we just put it on him this way in your face?

I'm going to choose to do x because I'd rather have or do this than have his approval or have that feeling of closeness. I'd rather have it. to have it and that's idolatry friends that's what it is so let's call it what it is colossians 1 21 says that before we were saved our minds our thoughts and our actions were at war with the lord I'm not using that language that's what says the lord and you who were once alienated and hostile in mind doing evil deeds, then that is what Paul is saying, since we live in a sinful world, it feels much more normal than it should feel and we don't.

See it for what it really is, which is an act of aggression against the Lord, apart from God preferring something to him. One of the things about this whole hostility thing is that when you get into the books of wisdom of the Old Testament, especially, you see that the books of wisdom model a life of wisdom a life that works a whole life in the fear of the lord who It is the beginning of wisdom and in the pattern of order created by God in the book of Genesis this is how God made it to be.

Now it is dysfunctional, but as we embrace the fear of the Lord we begin to find wisdom and our way back to the Eden's garden. Are you following me this morning? So, for example, in the Song of Songs we see this image of this young couple recently. They're married and they're just playful and they have fun and all kinds of things and and there's this innocence, there's this, there's no insecurity, there's great love, they're proud of each other, uh, they complement each other, this innocent joy in their union. He said why the hell is that in the Bible, well I can tell you why because a big part of the work of wisdom is to bring us back to what Adam and Eve's relationship might have been like before the fall and you see some of that.

In the book of the Song of Songs, this is what wisdom says, let us return to the original plane, let us be as the Lord created us to be, not what we have dysfunctionally made it to be now, and that is why wisdom says that the fear of the lord is the beginning of wisdom instead of being hostile to the lord we are afraid we come to the lord with fear and love and say you are the first you are the one that I orbit around my life you are the one that I am building my life around you you are the one who makes the decisions and you are the one who has a design for my life that I want to follow and it may not even make sense to you that design for you it may not even make sense It makes sense to you, but the design It's good and if you accept it, the Lord will heal you, he will heal you, so I don't know who it was for, but that was something the Lord wanted me to say.

I would say that many of us in this room are born again believers. We have known Jesus for at least a little while, if not for a long time, and we know what it is like to feel the pain of having done something that displeases the Lord. We know what it feels like. Hurts. If you are not disturbed by that, then that is cause for concern, because someone who is spiritually alive in Christ will care when they sin and you will want to confess that right away. That's because you realize that it hasn't broken your relationship with the Lord, because you're still a believer, you're born again, but it has strained it and you certainly know that you don't want to let that thing rot into multiple. the sins that you don't repent of start to develop hardness of heart where the word of God bounces off and you just don't care, that's dangerous, so I would say what you need to do is repent of those sins immediately because you know that the relationship with the lord is everything to you you don't want anything to hinder your prayers you don't want anything to hinder your worship you don't want anything to hinder your walk with the lord or the flow of what god wants to do and through your life and then you are going to confess that and get it out of the way so that you can always walk in a close relationship with Jesus because that's what matters most to you and everything else is nothing, so this morning I want to tell you to challenge you with that I'm looking at the clock I'm doing it well my wife is not with megiving this that means I have more time thirdly sin is corruption sin is corruption sin brings condemnation as a result of that, when Adam and Eve sinned, the human race was forever changed and altered so that we now have what It is called a sinful nature and even as born again believers we still have an indwelling sinful nature that will pass away when we are perfect in Christ but now we live where the holy spirit dwells in us we are born again we are indwelled by the spirit of god and Also through the Lord Jesus Christ we have been given the mind of Christ but our mind is being renewed both things are true now and we still do not have justice we are choosing justice we will be made righteous uh we are saints we are being saints uh we are healed we will be healed there is a lot of now and not yet in the bible and in our christian life at this time and at this time you and I have a sinful nature but we are no longer under its control thanks to the lord jesus we are no longer under its control we have been freed from it when we no we knew jesus we made the decisions it was our way of operating now that jesus has come into our life and the spirit has dwelt within us and he dwells there our new way is Christ and sometimes people say that says well this. is my this is who I am this is my identity etc etc and I tell you that you know what our identity is as Christians our identity is Jesus Christ he is the model for a new humanity he is the new Adam he is the one who has deliver us from the law of sin and death by the holy spirit through his death and resurrection on the cross and I'm getting ahead of myself, but Jesus has done it and then we are free from the power of sin that it does not control. you are no longer and you are free to choose what Jesus wants you to do in your life and the holy spirit will give you the power to do it, he will do it, so yes, you live in the flesh, you live in the sinful nature, it is there , has been inherited from Adam as a fallen condition and the result of that is condemnation where the Lord says that this flesh and blood as it is cannot inherit the kingdom of God, this corruption cannot enter the new heaven and the new earth as it is. as it is and this is all. which is why we have judgment and we have eternal punishment because if you choose if I choose I don't want a life with the lord and I want to be in rebellion against him and I don't want to live in a way that fits his plan I can't live in that world because If he did then it would no longer be good you follow me this morning and that is why he exists that is not because God hates people he loves the world that is why he gave his only begotten son so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life however the reason there is judgment and the reason there is condemnation is because sin is condemnable and because its presence in a new heaven and a new earth a new Eden will ruin it and So if you choose that you cannot live in it, you can't be a part of it, but it doesn't have to be you, you can choose Jesus, you can receive him and let him bring hope, healing and joy. your life and I hope you do that today I can tell you that he is wonderful, he has transformed my life, he has transformed the lives of so many people that I love and I can tell you that he can transform your life too.

David wrote in sin my My mother conceived me and he wasn't talking about her doing something she shouldn't do, he was saying that when I was born I was born with a tendency to sin, it doesn't mean that he is as bad as he could be, it just means that every part of our makeup has been affected by sin and Jesus comes to transform that for us as Christians this is my this is my application for us we know that there has been corruption that has settled within us because of sin and the sin nature and we still deal with it we have the power of the holy spirit to resist it and Paul says in many places Romans 18 8 13 for example 8 13 because if you live according to the flesh you will die but if by the spirit you put to death the works of the body you will live for whom all those who are led by the spirit are those of god are the children of god colossians 3 5 kill therefore what is earthly in you sexual immorality impurity passion evil desire covetousness which is idolatry and because of these things comes the wrath of god john owen an old man puritan writer wrote this kill sin or sin will kill you this is not something to play with it is a dangerous enemy of your life and your soul and all of the shalom that god wants you to live in and therefore if you don't kill him, he has his sights set on you and he will kill you, so you must kill him first, you must kill him, you must kill him without mercy.

You need to be aggressive to kill sin in your life and I am amazed at how much in our lives as Christians we can become so accustomed to sin that after a while we no longer kill it. See him as the great enemy that he is, but today I want to challenge him, if he wants to become like Jesus and wants to become more like him in every way, he will let the holy spirit build all the virtues in his life. In life you are going to add virtue but you are also going to take it away and you are going to be killing sin with vengeance and if you don't see it that way it will be difficult for you to become one. like Jesus, follow me this morning, this is really important, there has to be an active commitment to your heart, your mind, your will and your being, get involved in the word, get involved in prayer, get involved in listening to the holy spirit, get involved in correction and and being around other people who are showing the virtue of Christ so that we are taking on the virtues of Christ and we are putting away sin, but even more so when you are putting away sin, there is another way to say it. kill him to death and if you don't he will take you out i want to finish this thought jesus puts things back the way they should be in genesis 3 15 god says he will hurt your head and you will hurt his heel talking to the snake talking about a prophecy that the lord jesus christ would come and i just want to say this we have talked a lot about what jesus came to do we have mixed it up in all the other points but jesus came to undo the vandalism and the damage that we have caused with our sin jesus came to undo the corruption that is in our sinful nature jesus came to undo the separation, rejection and hostility and bring us back together with the lord where there is peace between us and the Lord Jesus came to undo all that and make things the way they should be, you say when you look at things like these school shootings and you say what is God doing, I'll say God has done it.

God is doing and God will do what this world needs to put back together as it should be and everything in it as it should not be is our fault, not the Lord's. There's a news article I wrote. I read it many years ago I didn't write it I read it about a lady in Spain an old lady was in a cathedral there in a church and there is a beautiful painting called el eche homo it is an image of Jesus it is on the left and a climate began and where it's because of the weather there and that kind of thing and then it was really damaged and people would come to see it well, he thought inside the guards and everyone, I'm going to fix it, I want to restore this. and she thought she was a great artist, so she took the painting that was on the left, it's like an episode of Mr Bean, and turned it into this one on the right, look it's absolutely destroyed, what they had just done.

She had just gotten financing to have it restored by professionals, but this amateur lady who didn't know what she was doing decided to take matters into her own hands and destroyed it forever. I would like to say that salvation is not doing it. -project yourself if you want to change if you want to be forgiven if you want to be right with god if you want to undo the whole mess if you want your life to transform you can't do it alone no matter how much I -will help you do no matter how much you go to counseling , it doesn't matter any of these things, if you are doing this apart from Jesus, you will not get the healing, the restoration, ultimately what you need, this is not a DIY project, it is. grace that is needed and the Lord offers it to you today so I want to encourage you to trust in Jesus today there is in Christ now there is no condemnation there is in Jesus he who knew no sin took our sin so that we can be the righteousness of God in Christ jesus we are the righteousness of god in christ jesus people when we meet jesus he who knew no sin took our sins so that we could be reconciled to god if you are in christ you are a new creation the old is gone the new is coming we are no longer enemies of God we are now sons and daughters heirs joint heirs with Christ in Adam everyone dies in Christ we are all made alive I love that we have died with Christ with whom we have risen Christ we are a new creation we have a new heart we have been made alive in Jesus now we love the Lord we have new desires we have a new mind we are going to get a new body god is changing things he is changing things around and there is hope for each of us and there is hope for this world I want to challenge you if you want to do something about the things you are seeing you need share the gospel this is the answer with each person - one by one sharing jesus christ if you want to make a difference share the gospel if you have sin in your life that you have not dealt with you need to kill it kill it without mercy because its design is to destroy you and separate you from the Lord, if you have come to the place in your life where you don't see sin as bad as it really is, then this is the time to repent of that and ask the Lord to change it, but maybe today you just come and you are broken hearted.

Broken, you are sad and I want you to know this morning that the Lord offers you his closeness and the hope we have in Jesus Christ. Could you please be with me, Lord? Thank you very much for Jesus, can you cross this room? let's start thanking the lord lord, we thank you today we thank you for jesus christ we thank you lord that we are in christ jesus that the old is gone and the new come we thank you lord that even though it is as bad as it is jesus has come to free us and free us and give us a new life a new hope a new future we thank you for this lord we thank you lord that even though we were separated from you you brought us into a relationship with you through your son the lord jesus christ we thank you for that lord we thank you lord this morning we praise you hallelujah hallelujah praise the lord can you just thank the lord this morning? thank you lord we thank you lord thank you god thank you for what you have done for us and jesus thank you lord praise the lord if you need healing in your body this morning if you need to spend some time with the lord and be alone with the lord if you need any kind of advice and prayer maybe you are heartbroken there are many reasons for us to come to the alternative this morning so I just want to invite you to come and if the pastoral team the elders I would like to help be available to minister to you we will simply invite them to come and we will start to sing.

I just want to encourage you to come and spend some time with the Lord and it may be just being alone with the Lord in a chair in the corner and just saying Lord we need to talk and it may be you saying I've been dealing with something and I need help I need prayer we will be here to pray with you maybe that could be it You've heard this and you've never really had a relationship with Jesus. You know that today this is what you want and you feel that the Lord is speaking to you.

I want to encourage you to come too. Let's spend a few moments in prayer this morning, at the end of this service, we're going to sing and worship the Lord, so I just want to encourage you to spend some time with the Lord and come, come now, let's pray and seek the lord together praise be the lord r praise the lord let's praise the lord let's calm down glory to you you are jesus is what name of jesus is what a powerful name is the name of what a powerful name of jesus is a powerful name that is the name of jesus a One of the things that the kingdom of God does is act against illness.

Jesus came proclaiming the gospel and healing the sick. We see it again and again and again and again he came proclaiming the gospel, healing the sick, and there are many illnesses in this world because it is. We invite you to come in and if you need healing this morning I just want to ask you to raise your hand, we are going to pray for you this morning, the people around you are going to pray, so why don't you just put your hand up let's pray for you here at the end of this service someone needs healing in their body we are going to pray for you right here so we are going to avoid those who have their hands raised anyone else this could be your moment when the lord works a miracle in your body back here let's gather around these I don't want anyone to be alone let's pray through the laying on of hands and ask for virtue that the holy spirit may flow into these who have their hands raised this morning, hallelujah, let's begin together to invoke the lord, lord , we thank you very much that you provided healing in the death of Jesus, we thank you for that, Lord, we know, Lord, that the kingdom of God moves against illness and we just pray this morning in the name of Jesus that the holy spirit the holy spirit holy spirit move in these bodies we pray for virtue to flow gifts of healing gifts of miracles to flowoperate let's pray for restoration Lord who would point to Jesus and bring glory to God and help every person who has their hand raised.

We pray for miracles of restoration and healing. We pray in the name of Jesus. We ask you. Thanks God. Thank you. Thank you. I praise you. Lord, it's been wonderful to be with you this morning, Anderson first and even though we just met, I love you because I love your pastors and now that we've met, you'll be in my prayers, I just want to say. that as Amy and I were driving here this morning we were praying and asking the holy spirit to reveal some things to us and Amy says: I just feel like we have to pay it forward and pray for Pastor Jeff and Rochelle.

The Lord will give them security and rest and I believe the Lord wants the congregation to pray for that. Could you join me at this last minute and pray for your pastor? Lord, we thank you so much for pastor jeff and rochelle and their wonderful ministry here, their love for this congregation, their faithfulness, the excellence of their ministry, their heart for you and for God, I just thank you, lord, for everything you you are doing in and through so that they bring discipleship and deep rootedness in this congregation and in each life, so, Lord, we only pray that during this time of rest, Lord, they experience a deep rest, that supernaturally the holy spirit give a wonderful time of rest, connection as a family and time with you lord like no other, that this time of concentration and listening to the lord would be so rich and wonderful and we pray to the Lord for protection over them as they travel while doing whatever they are doing On his break, we thought about that. and protection over this body in the name of Jesus amen amen god bless you all thank you thank you very much pastor greg for being here today can we just tell you how grateful we are for your message what a powerful and powerful message today and we are very grateful. that you are here to minister to us, we are very grateful right now if our prayer team would not mind coming forward if anyone, as we leave today, if anyone has anything they need prayer for this morning, please come and we will do it. .

I would love to pray with you if you received Jesus this morning for the first time, we would love to connect with you so come talk to one of our prayer team members. I hope everyone has a wonderful day and a wonderful weekend. God bless you all. you