Excited About Being a Christian

December 29, 2013

Misc. Sermon

Are You Excited About Being a Christian

Ephesians 1:3-11

(Advance Slide #1)

Introduction

I am excites about a lot of things!

• Don’t you love to see people that are excited?
• Maybe you like to help the excitement in people.
• Satan tries to get us excited about the wrong things.

(Advance Slide #2)

What do you get excited about?

We all get excited about different things.

• Do you get excited about being a Christian?
• Do you get excited about living the Christian life?
• • Some say it’s just a hard knock life…
  • But IF your not excited about being a Christian, and  worshiping God there is something wrong!
  • • There is something blocking the excitement that should be there.
    • Things block our excitement…our focus gets messed up.
  • We do not see the privilege and the honor that it is to praise and worship Him!

Maybe something has happened.

• Last week, this weekend, this morning, last month, last year
• What might be stopping you from getting excited like you should be?

We get excited about different things for different reasons.

• This life should be a place of promise in in your  life.
• • Think about why you should be excited about the "Christian life.”
  • Think about why you should be excited about being a child of God. 

GOAL - Try for us to pull through whatever is blocking if from the excitement we should have.

• What is pulling the excitement of Christ and the Church from your life?

(Advance Slide #3)

Text

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, ⁴ even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love ⁵ he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. ⁷ In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, ⁸ which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight ⁹ making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ ¹⁰ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. ¹¹ In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, ¹² so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. Ephesians 1:3-11

One of the funniest cartoons I ever saw showed a pompous lawyer reading a client’s last will and testament to a group of greedy relatives. 

• The caption read: “I, John Jones, being of sound mind and body, spent it all!”
• • When Jesus Christ wrote His last will and testament for His church, He made it possible for us to share His spiritual riches. 
  • • Instead of spending it all, Jesus Christ paid it all. 
    • His death on the cross and His resurrection make possible our salvation.

In this long sentence, Paul names just a few of the blessings that should make us excited!

Lesson

Paul had several reason for why he was excited about being a Christian.

(Advance Slide #4)

• Read vs. 1 he begins by saying, "an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,”
• • He was excited about his role as an apostle of Jesus.
• The text goes on to say that Before the world began
• • God determined that all those who would be in Christ (united with Him) would receive the blessings of Christ.

(Advance Slide #5)

He Chose Us in Christ - vs. 4

(Advance Slide #6)

Some of us know what its like to be chosen.

• Some of us know what its like to not be chosen.
• Some even know what its like to not NOT be chosen

We need to be chosen.

• Because we are sinners, because we have fallen short.
• We need to be chosen so that God can work through us!

(Advance Slide #7)

Through Him We Have Redemption - vs. 7a

Through Him we have forgiveness through His grace.

• For forgiveness of our sins (the very reason that we need choosing).
• We need redemption not for eternal death but for eternal life.

(Advance Slide #8)

What is your greatest possession?

• We have so many wordily things….
• • But our greets possession is that we have redemption.
  • • Paul calls redemption, forgiveness.

(Advance Slide #9)

• • He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Col. 1:13-14
• We have been saved from the wrath of God…this is personal!

In life some will withhold forgiveness from you.

• Some might escape you or run from you.
• However, through His blood God WILL NOT do that!

** It does not matter what you’ve done…there is redemption/forgiveness!

(Advance Slide #10)

We Can Be Excited about the "Door Prize” - vs. 7b-8

As a child of God we receive a lot of god things!

(Advance Slide #11)

• As a child of God we receive GRACE!
• • The original language indicates that this is a prize.
  • We receive the blessing of hope, family, the Holy Spirit, but we also received His grace!

(Advance Slide #12)

God’s grace IS His gift to ALL Christians.

• When we became Christians we received this grace!
• God has done everything necessary for you to be saved!

(Advance Slide #13)

We Can Be Excited about the “Grand Prize” -  vs. 11

Paul was excited about the “grand prize”!

• If grace was the door prize then HEAVEN would be the grand prize!
• • This is our eternal inheritance.

(Advance Slide #14)

• ³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 1 Peter 1:3-4
• There are 3 ways in which this gift is grand!

(Advance Slide #15)

• Imperishable - it cannot be destroyed!
• Undefiled - it will not tarnish!
• Unfading - it will not waste away!

This is not heaven!

• This is world is far from being these key things!

(Advance Slide #16)

Action Step

• Be excited about our chosen state, our redemption, His grace, and our eternal inheritance! 

Conclusion

(Advance Slide #17)

Yes, in deed we have a great deal to be excited about!

• This life, at best, we have financial problems, health issues, family conflict.
• There will be conflict and strife.

But we have great blessings and gift in which we should be excited.