SUNDAY APRIL 4, 2021      “Regenerating Grace”

The Sunday School teacher was extremely enthusiastic. She looked at the class of four-years old’s and asked this question: “Does anyone know what today is?”
A little girl held up her finger and said, “Yes today is Palm Sunday.” “That’s fantastic!” the teacher replied. “Does anyone know what next Sunday is?”
The same little girl held up her finger and said, “Next Sunday is Easter Sunday.” Again, the teacher replied, “That’s great!”
Then the teacher asked, “Does anyone know what makes next Sunday Easter?” The little girl again responded, “Yes, next Sunday is Easter Sunday because Jesus rose from the grave.”
But before the teacher could again congratulate her, she continued, “But if he sees his shadow, he has to go back in for six weeks!”

Corrie ten Boom was once asked if it were difficult for her to remain humble. Her reply was simple; “When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday on the back of a donkey, and everyone was waving palm branches and throwing garments onto the road, and singing praises, do you think that for one moment it ever entered the head of that donkey that any of that was for him?” She continued, “If I can be the donkey on which Jesus Christ rides in his glory, I give him all the praise and all the honor.”
RECAP: The Day the Shouting Stopped; Just because the crowd was the loudest didn’t mean they were the most loyal!!!  John always stood by Jesus when everyone else left. He proved his loyalty by more than just his lips. Just because they loved the miracles does not mean they loved Jesus enough to follow him. Some are more concerned by what Jesus could do then why he did it. Jesus was no longer concerned by what people said, but by how many of those people who would stand with him when the crowd went silent!
We all have something to say but very few will stand with you. Loyalty is more important than loudness!!
Regenerating Grace Rose from the Resurrection

His regenerating Grace changes everything.
Ephesians 2:1-6 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. God loves big buts!!  When you see a but something big is about to happen!!!
The recession, the virus, your unbelief, disbelief or opinions will never change God’s mercy. It doesn’t matter if you agree or disagree, you will never change God’s love for you nor his mercy!!
“Because of his great love for “Bobby, Sheryl, Ryan, Tori, Denny, Kristen, Oaklin,  Rezzi, Micah, Cody, and Destiny.”
The moment you said YES TO JESUS, it unlocked his resurrection power! It is by his grace alone we are saved! It is not achieved, but received. Jesus worked for it and paid for it so we didn’t have to!!
Your validation is found from the cross. Everything you require as a needy person was provided for out of his passion for you!!
If you can’t get that validation or approval horizontally you will get it vertically. Stop looking for people to do what only Jesus can and did!
God has helped me this month to put things in proper perspective. I felt that I had to repent for running after recognition as my reward to validate my value. That took many years to get that revelation. My reward is, “well done my good and faithful servant” My value was demonstrated on the cross. My life’s calling is to now demonstrate it.

Imitating Christ’s Humility
Phil 2:1-2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.
Do you want to see something supernatural? Look at vs 6

6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,
Don’t ask me how, but somehow supernaturally we are situated here on earth and seated with him in heaven at the same time. It’s like earth is not our home but a timeshare or a rental facility.
Millions of people have encountered the risen Christ including me! The fact that Jesus was raised from the dead testifies for eternity that you are now right with God.
When Jesus came out of the tomb with Resurrection power it was a statement! Not just for the followers and the doubters, it was for the present and future believers who were spiritually dead! HE gives you the power to come out of the tomb of death, denial and decay.

Theologian Robert Capon
“Religion is an attempt on the part of human beings to establish a right relationship between themselves and something outside themselves, something they think to be of life shaping importance.”
This can take the form of good behavior, a code of conduct or a personal set of ethics or life principles. Anything can be a religion. When religion is our focus in life we end up living very restrictive lives.  Our focus becomes rules, regulations, our own performance and our evaluation of ourselves and others.
The bad part of religion are the rules and regulations, stipulations, do’s and don’ts; codes of ethics that if you keep them, you will convince God to love you more. Some may even try to use the code of ethics and a bargaining chip to manipulate God not to judge you in this life or the next.
If we live our life solely on religion then our life is narrowed down to rules, dress codes, hair styles, what you drive, where you live and even what you eat. The problem is, we constantly evaluate ourselves based on how well we obeyed those rules. We then condemn ourselves and even worse judge others for not keeping them as well. We start buying into self justification that justifies your actions or lack of based on the performance of others who failed.
Matthew 11:28-30 (MSG)
28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Some of us need to learn how to dance in the spirit
The Tomb that represented death now becomes a womb to give life. Jesus our redeemer changed religion into relationship and rituals into righteousness.
Romans 4:25 (TPT)
“Jesus was handed over to be crucified for the forgiveness of our sins and was raised back to life to prove that He had made us right with God!
“Because Jesus was raised for our justification, we don’t need to spend our time, energy, efforts trying to keep the rules, convince God to bless us, or change his mind about hurting us. The resurrection declares we are right with God. Now the essence of our life is not to prove ourselves to God, but to live out a relationship with God”  Pastor Karl
Our essence in life is no longer trying to appease and please God by jumping through hoops of repentance to get right.  HE DID IT!!!!!
We need to let Jesus take the load of religion off our backs. I promise when that happens you will not be bent over carrying the weight of the world.

HIS INDWELLING GRACE Changes everything: God always wanted to be with us. In the Old Testament his presence was always in something or on something like a temple. However now you are a temple of the Holy Spirit and he wants to dwell in you.

Galations 2: 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

This was something Jesus accomplished so we could accommodate it. The hero of redemption and resurrection is the FATHER. This is not recreational religion, this is resurrection reality and redemption equality! His grace is available to everyone!! It is not something I set aside Mon-Sat and put on Sunday.
Grace is a synergistic union of the natural and the supernatural.
Empty hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling

John 17:2-3 NIV “2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
So, eternal life comes from that indwelling relationship with Jesus not from a set of rules.  (Rules free us not bind us) We should never be bound by the shackles of religion because Jesus freed us from the things Satan bound is in.
He already made us in right relationship with him so stop trying to earn it! We must stop trying to be through religion what we have already become through resurrection.
Christianity now is about wearing on the outside the image of God you already bear on the inside.
Ephesians 4:23-24
“…and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, 24 and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”
How many are ready to change passports and take on your new identity?

Inhale his presence, exhale his love.

Relax and be refreshed, Relax and be renewed, Relax and be restored

Restored: return (someone or something) to a former condition, place, or position, repair or renovate (a building, work of art, vehicle, etc.) so as to return it to its original condition. “the building has been lovingly restored”

This is what happens the moment , the instant Romans 10:9 becomes a reality. New International Version “If you declare with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

HIS SUSTAINING GRACE Changes everything
How do we gain Jesus’ rhythm of grace?
By receiving his sustaining grace.   He upholds you, lifts you up for as long as it takes. You go from simply surviving to thriving!
How many of you are guilty of simply preserving what you know? Holding on to what is safe and predictable and maintaining the status quo. Some people are so much in control of themselves they are afraid to let go and dare to see where the current of grace will take them. Those people are safe with ankle deep, knee deep and maybe waist deep experiences, but will never go where their feet can’t touch the bottom.
Why? Because of culture, occupation, upbringing, pride.   However, Romans 8:11 “And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.”
This resurrection power gives you the strength to do, go and be what you never could in your own ability.

So Paul prayed Ephesians 1:19-20
“…and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ “when” He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places..,” You have been engrafted into the indestructible life force of Jesus so stop trying to work for it.    (membership has privileges)

Very few realize the revelation of the resurrection personally!!

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

We rise because of our redeemers regenerating grace. When you’re beat up, his grace sustains! When you’re down in the dumps, his regenerating grace will help you rise!
His regenerating grace, His indwelling grace, His sustaining grace

Paul’s Labor for the Church, Colossians 1:24-29 NIV
24 Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery Ephesians 3:5-6 “5 which was not made known to people in other generations as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to God’s holy apostles and prophets. 6 This mystery is that through the gospel, the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus” that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me.
Quite often we find our purpose through our pain. It’s God’s sustaining grace that gets us through life’s trials.
We shall rise because HE rose
In closing: Humanity was made with eternity in our hearts, birthed with a desire to not only live forever, but to make a contribution to life that will last forever… Jesus called it fruit that remains. We might call it legacy or longevity.

2 Corinthians 4:18
“…fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

“Without a hope in the resurrection, this awareness of eternity and the desire to do something that lasts turns inwards and becomes selfish, temporal and afraid. We become painfully aware of our own mortality, and we become bound by a sense of urgency. We become consumed with what we can do that we think will make the biggest difference in this life, and we make decisions that are designed to be celebrated in this life, in front of as many people as possible, with the biggest impact that we can see as possible.” Zach Sloane

When you see through the lens of resurrection you get to make decisions and contributions to life with eternal consequences in mind.

1 Peter 1:3-5, NIV     “Praise to God for a Living Hope 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. This inheritance is 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.

1 Peter 1:3-5, TPT  “3 Celebrate with praises the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has shown us his extravagant mercy. For his fountain of mercy has given us a new life—we are reborn to experience a living, energetic hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.  4 We are reborn into a perfect inheritance that can never perish, never be defiled, and never diminish. It is promised and preserved forever in the heavenly realm for you! 5 Through our faith, the mighty power of God constantly guards us until our full salvation is ready to be revealed in the last time.”