Nice People or New Men…Mere Christianity | Chapters 10 and 11 SummaryKG Sharing | Mr. Andrew | June 05, 2014

INTRO

If conversion to Christianity makes no improvement in a man’s outward actions- if he continues to be just as rude or envious or ambitious as he was before – then I think we must suspect his “conversion” was largely imaginary…feelings, insights, greater interest in religion mean nothing unless they make our actual behavior better.

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?

2 Corinthians 13:5 (NIV)

A Tree and it’s fruit A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. You will know these false people by what they do. “Not everyone who calls me Lord will enter God’s kingdom. The only people who will enter are those who do what my Father in heaven wants.Matthew 7:17-21 (ERV)

Are you bearing good fruit?

PrideGossipUnforgivenessBullyingSelfish

So if I want to get in to heaven…

I just have to be kind to people?

Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV)

I NEED THREE VOLUNTEERS

Find my friend Waldo in 15 seconds…

Is it easier to find Waldo once you know what you’re looking for…

Waldo’s wears the colors red, white and blue

Waldo has glasses and brown hair

WHAT DOES A CHRISTIAN LOOK LIKE?

NBA ChampionFirst Freshmen to be named high school player of the year

Successful business man

legendary skateboarder

NEW MENTheir very voices and faces are different from ours; stronger, quieter, happier, more radiant. They begin where most of us leave off. They are, I say, recognizable; but you must know what to look for. They will not be very like the idea of ‘religious people’ which you have formed from your general reading. They do not draw attention to themselves. You tend to think that you are being kind to them when they are really being kind to you. They love you more than other men do, but they need you less. (We must get over wanting to be needed: in some goodish people, specially women, that is the harder of all temptations to resist.) They will usually seem to have a lot of time: you will wonder where it comes from.

KNOW WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR…When you have recognized one of them, you will recognize the next one much more easily. And I strongly suspect that they recognize one another immediately and infallibly, across every barrier of color, sex, class, age, and even of creeds. In that way, to become holy is rather like joining a secret society. To put it at the very lowest, it must be great fun.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE

NEW CREATIONSo I am not the one living now—it is Christ living in me. I still live in my body, but I live by faith in the Son of God. He is the one who loved me and gave himself to save me. Galatians 2:20 (ERV)

I will take away that heart of stone, and I will put a real heart in its place. Then they will obey my laws and my commands. They will do the things I tell them. They will be my people, and I will be their God. Ezekiel 11:19-20 (ERV)

When anyone is in Christ, it is a whole new world. The old things are gone; suddenly, everything is new!2 Corinthians 5:17 (ERV)

VIDEO:Christian Hosoi

Let’s take a closer look…• Scales fell off…and I knew I had a purpose• I want to KNOW GOD -> follow, live and love GOD• Open the bible and read it• All the pain, hurt, shame and fell off my shoulders• Moved into a life of living for Jesus• I came alive, so excited about life• I am free from living in the sin of this world• My objective is to love and pray for others• God changed my life because I said be my Lord and Savior• No love like God’s love

DIE TO SELF"The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.”John 12:25-26 (NIV)

Live like free people, but don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. Live as those who are serving God.1 Peter 2:16 (ERV)

“All things are allowed,” you say. But not all things are good. “All things are allowed.” But some things don’t help anyone. Try to do what is good for others, not just what is good for yourselves.1 Corinthians 10:23-24 (ERV)

DIE TO SELFThe more we get what we now call “ourselves” out of the way and let Him take us over, the more truly ourselves we become. …The more I resist Him and try to live on my own, the more I become dominated by selfish desires. It is when I turn to Christ, when I give myself up to His Personality, that I first begin to have a real personality of my own. There are personalities in God, and there are no personalities anywhere else. Until you have given up yourself to Him, you will not have a real self.

DIE TO SELFSameness is to be found most among the “natural” men, not among those who surrender to Christ.

Nothing that you have NOT given away will ever be really yours. Look for yourself and you’ll find hatred, loneliness, despair, and ruin. But look to Christ and you’ll find Him and with Him, EVERYTHING else thrown in.

BABY IN MOTHERS WOMB

Therefore, if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort provided by love, any fellowship in the Spirit, any affection or mercy, complete my joy and be of the same mind, by having the same love, being united in spirit, and having one purpose. Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself.  Each of you should be concerned not only about your own interests, but about the interests of others as well. You should have the same attitude toward one another that Christ Jesus Phil 2:1-5 (NET)For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh, but through love serve one another. Galatians 5:13 (NET)

“All things are allowed,” you say. But not all things are good. “All things are allowed.” But some things don’t help anyone. Try to do what is good for others, not just what is good for yourselves.1 Corinthians 10:23-24 (ERV)

CLOSE IN PRAYER

SMALL GROUP QUESTIONS1. Think of your life before you became a Christian and after, share an

example of how you acted differently.

2. Do you think people see you as a witness for Christ? If so, are you a positive witness or negative?

3. Can I honestly say I am second? If not, what are the things that I treasure more than God?

Share your prayer requests and pray for one another