Ever wonder how do I live life as a Christian

I know that my life is supposed to be different but how?

If you ask 50 people what a Christian life looks like you would get 50 different answers

One reason people struggle so much is we listen to the world instead of Jesus

Leaving you an example to follow in His steps

So how do we live our life as Believers?

We follow His example!

That means I have to be perfect and I am not able to do that!

How is it possible to follow in His steps when His steps were perfect?

There is probably no one who has ever 100% lived up to their parents expectations

But Godly parents will say they are very proud of their children

Shoot for the stars and maybe you can at least hit the moon right.

Strive to try to follow in His steps every day and even if you fall short try again

He kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges rightly

In other words while we are striving to live rightly trust God to help us

Yes, Jesus was perfect and lived a perfect life and yes we are to follow His example

Vs 21
Since Christ also suffered for YOU

We are weak
but He is strong!

Jesus loves you and suffered for you and left an example for you

He also made a way for you!

Work hard every day and know that He has covered our shortcomings

He paid the price for our sins already so keep striving

The first step in living like a Believer is to actually become one

Are you a Believer today?

Relationship: The way in which two or more objects or people are connected

As people we have many types of relationships

We are connected in many ways

All of our relationships take work, and none of them work without work

There is one relationship that is more important than the rest

So, today, being Valentine’s Day, means the world is talking about love

As Believers, we should be thinking about love every day

Colossians 3:1-17 NASB

Seek things above if you have been raised with Christ

Our minds should be focused on things above to make a difference here

Idolatry means we are consumed with something besides God

This keeps us from our true love

Remember believer, you once were a son of disobedience

While we are doing this, we are being renewed

We also call this sanctification and it is a process that continues until Glory

This renewal is for every believer, no matter any worldly differences

DO you recognize any of the things in these verses?

Yes, they are the fruit of the Spirit, which all believers have been given

It is through this fruit that we can overcome the evil of this world

There is one thing that is greater than any other; that is LOVE

We put on love just like putting on clothes; we clothe ourselves in it

When we clothe ourselves with love, it covers all those other things

It is a perfect bond of unity!

Being United in Love is exactly where believers need to be today

This unified love is exactly what the world needs to see

Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you

Do you know God’s love today?

Matthew 21:12-13 NASB

"¹² And Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who were selling doves. ¹³ And He *said to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a den of robbers.”"

Sometimes we like this passage because it shows a human reaction from Jesus

We realize he did get angry too

But have you ever stopped to think about what made him angry?

Why were there money changers in the temple in the first place?

Don’t forget about those selling doves as well, why were they there?

Way back in Exodus 30:11-16 God required a half shekel from His people

The temple tax was derived from this requirement for the upkeep of the temple

People outside of Jerusalem came to worship and had different money

It needed to be changed into the correct currency

So why is that a problem for Jesus?

The money changers were extorting money as they made the exchange.

Also, the dove sellers were a problem because of how they cheated the people

They inspected peoples sacrifice and often told them it was imperfect

Then the only option the people had was to buy another sacrifice

So again why is Jesus so angry?

^"13 And He *said to them, “It is written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a den of robbers.”

In the name of doing something right, the people were robbing the temple goers

Why am I sharing this message today?

The modern church is no different.

There are all sorts of false religious entities that use the name of Jesus to rob people

There are churches today that promote a feel good attitude instead of truth

This robs the people of the true messages God has for them

God’s house is supposed to be a house of prayer not an entertainment venue

Too many believers have been robbed of the real worship they need

That’s why even Christians are seeking ungodly things to fill their heart

When they attend worship, it is everything but worship

When we, as God’s children, are not willing to share the hard truth

Because it may be offensive to someone, we are robbing them of what they need

We advertise one thing, but then cheat people when we don’t share truth

Stop robbing people and start spending real worship with God.

This false religion has also made it hard for people to realize their need for salvation

The blunt question today is, are you a sinner?

Have you ever asked God to forgive your sin and gave your life to Him?

This is the only real reconciliation you can have. If you haven’t done that,

Every religious thing you do is not real, no matter what you have been told.

Are you ready to give up the fake and accept the real Truth today?

Completely giving yourself to Jesus is the only real way for Salvation

I often remind people that we live in the greatest country

We live in a country that gives freedom to it’s people

Unfortunately, some people confuse this freedom….

With real freedom

^"31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples; ³² and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” ³³ They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”

³⁴ Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. ³⁵ Now the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free."

Americans think we are free because we are Americans;

Sin doesn’t care about heritage or government

Sin enslaves every sinner.

Once sin is committed, the penalty is locked on

^"23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."

^"6 Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me."

Jesus is the Truth, but sin is a liar!

Sin says you don’t need Jesus

We live in a world today that loves sin and even glamorizes it

Sin looks beautiful and is popular

Jesus has paid your debt allowing you to be free

But you still have to accept it

Are you ready to be free, free indeed?

President Biden this past week called for Unity

Many politicians have used the word without really meaning it

Regardless of your feelings about our new administration,

Unity is something we should strive for in this world

How is that really possible, you ask?

God is God of ALL

"4 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, ² with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, ³ being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. ⁴ There is one body and one Spirit, just as you also were called in one hope of your calling; ⁵ one Lord, one faith, one baptism, ⁶ one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all."

Vs 1 says walk in a manner worthy of your calling

In other words, don’t do things to draw people away from God

What we need to do is show God’s love in all we do.

I know that sometimes we let the world’s ugliness get to us,

It is speaking of being tolerant of our human failures, tolerant in love

Meaning, we are to be united with God, and by doing so, walk worthy of Him

Knowing this, we must be unified in our walk with Christ, worthy of our calling

This unity, this oneness, means stop trying to be about you

Satan is the prince of this world, and, because of that, tribulation abounds

We get caught up in worldly things and act all kind of crazy

We don’t understand how some of the leaders of this country got there

Let me remind you that no one gains power without God giving it to them

"13 Every [a]person is to be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except [b]from God, and those which exist are established by God."

^"6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all."

God and Father of ALL

Over ALL, through ALL, and in ALL

ALL means…….

ALL

So, if God is God of ALL, and He told us to walk in a manner worthy of Him,

We need to do exactly what He called us to do

Live our life reflecting the love of Christ so others can see Jesus in us.

Are you ready to walk worthy for the God of ALL today?

Are you ready to be Unified in the Spirit?

Sin has been a problem since Adam and Eve

"4 Now the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have obtained a male child with the help of the Lord.” ² And again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a cultivator of the ground. ³ So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the ground. ⁴ Abel, on his part also brought an offering, from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering; ⁵ but for Cain and his offering He had no regard. So Cain became very angry and his face was gloomy. ⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why is your face gloomy? ⁷ If you do well, will your face not be cheerful? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it.” ⁸ Cain talked to his brother Abel; and it happened that when they were in the field Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him."

Sin is crouching at the door

And it’s desire is for YOU!

This is true for everyone, even today.

How do we keep sin away?

Cain tried to do it half way and that is never good

Unfortunately, for many Believers today, we do the same thing

We know what we are supposed to do, but we don’t

Think about this if God was not pleased with Cain is He pleased with us?

Cain gave, but not of the first fruits

Today we call that deflection.

God asked Cain, "Why are you angry?"

Instead of changing our failures, we dwell and anger burns

When we dwell, we draw sin closer

You see, sin may be crouching at the door

But we are the ones that let it in!

Cain let his anger burn until he opened the door

This anger led to the sin of murder of his brother

You never know how fully the sin will consume you

Therefore do not open the door, don’t even dwell on it

In our world today it’s all about ME

Life was created to be all about Him!

When we don’t put God first, sin is crouching

But if we do well, we can keep sin away through God

Are you a sinner that needs a savior?

Do well and call on Christ today!