Walk in Newness of Life (Romans 4:6-11) [2026-4-5]

All right, good morning, church family.

Let me invite you to your seats, and as you find your seats, if

you would open your Bibles to the book of Romans.

We're going to be taking a short little break from the book of

Genesis. What we've been going through

for the past few weeks, being that it's Easter, I want to say

happy Easter to all of you on Good Friday.

I preached in Romans chapter 5 and this morning we're going to

Romans 5 · chapter mention

be in Romans chapter 6, verses 4 to 11.

Romans 6:4–11

I, I'm going to do my very best to make it through the sermon

with my voice. I lost my voice on Friday.

I've got maybe got a little bit of a back, but I'm not sick.

In case anybody's wondering. I, I, I, I feel totally fine.

I just, I lost my voice and, and so I will do my best to make it

through. But Romans 6 this morning we're

going to be in verses 4:00 to 11:00.

So if you follow along in your copy of God's Word, let's read

from the Word of God. This is what the apostle Paul

writes to us. We were buried, therefore with

Him by baptism into death. In order that justice Christ was

raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too

might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with

Him and a death like His, we shall certainly be united with

Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was

crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought

to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

For one who has died has been set free from sin.

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also

live with Him. We know that Christ, being

raised from the dead, will never die again.

Death no longer has dominion over him for the death he died.

He died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to

God. So you also must consider

yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

If you will pray with me. Father, I pray this morning that

You would set us all free from sin.

I know that there are many in this room who I've already been

set free. But I pray God, by Your grace,

that all of us in this room would know what it feels like to

be set free. That all of us would know what

it feels like to have a new life and to walk in this life.

I know that some may have come in this place, still on in the

bondage of sin, still hearing the the iron chains.

And we pray, Lord, that you would release them, You would

break them, You would free them from the bondage of sin.

We know that this is possible. We have tasted it, God.

We know that the resurrection accomplished this, that Jesus

not only died for our sin, but he also rose to set us free from

it. It's power, it's it's control of

our life. And so Lord, I pray that this

Easter morning, we would all taste freedom.

We would all taste what it feels like to have a new life.

Thank you, Jesus, for freeing us.

We love you. We pray in your, your name,

Amen. We have a lot to get to this

morning. I'm going to be weaving together

the exposition of and the application of the text.

So we're going to jump right into the sermon.

Romans 6 verse 4, Paul writes, we were buried therefore with

Romans 6:4

him by baptism into death in order that just as Christ was

raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too

might walk in newness of life. Now we have not been going

through the book of Romans. And so the context of this

passage is that Paul had said at the end of Romans chapter 5 that

Romans 5 · chapter mention

where sin increased, grace abounded all the more.

Now this is a very dangerous statement for Paul to make, and

I think he realizes it because the temptation will be for some

in the church to hear this and say, well, if that is true, then

why don't we just continue in sin so that grace will abound?

If the more we send, the more grace abounds, let us continue

to sin so that grace will abound even more.

To which Paul replies to the church, By no means how can we

who died to sin still live in it?

We were baptized into the death of Jesus Christ.

And so we pick up his argument here in verse 4 where Paul

writes we were buried with him by baptism into death.

What that means is that to be a Christian means to identify with

Christ. To be a Christian means to

identify with Christ, not just his teachings.

We do not just identify with his teachings or his moral example.

We identify with his life, his death and his resurrection.

We we have what's known as a union with Christ.

The apostle Paul gives us several ways in which we

identify with him. He says we were crucified with

him. Galatians 220 We died with him.

Second Timothy 211 We were buried with him.

Colossians 212 We were made alive with him.

Ephesians 2 Five we were raised with him and we sit with him in

the heavenlies. Ephesians 26.

We are Co heirs with him, Romans 817.

We are shares of his glory, Romans 817 and we will reign

with him. That's what it means to be a

Christian. We are fully identified with

Jesus. The purpose of joining Christ in

his burial, Paul writes, is so that just as Christ was raised

from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in

newness of life. In other words, what he's saying

is that just as the resurrection testifies to the glory of God,

it does The resurrection. That is, the primary testimony

to the glory of God is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

But not only that, our new life testifies to the glory of God.

So you know what people say, well, can't see Christ raised

from the dead. When you can see me, you can see

that I was raised from the dead. Our new life testifies to the

glory of God. God raising Jesus from the dead

was a miracle, but so is God giving us new lives.

Your new life is a miracle. How often do you see somebody

completely change their life? I mean often.

Do we actually see that? We might see an alcoholic decide

to become sober. We may have seen that before.

We might see a prostitute leave her life of immorality.

But how often do you actually see someone who changes their

entire life? Your newness of life is a

miracle by God that testifies to His glory.

I want to draw your attention to this word walk that we to my

walk. It implies a way of life.

Not that we would just dabble a new life, not that we would

taste a new life as an appetizer or something that he says that

we would walk in a new life. You ever heard someone say like

he eats drinks and sleeps mountain biking or he bleeds

golf? It implies that this person has

a single devotion that they give their life to.

Like man, that's their life. This is what Christ was raised

for. Christ was raised for the from

the dead, for this new life. He was not raised to make us

professing Christians. Christ was not raised that we

would be professing Christians. He was not raised so that we

would identify as Christians. He was not raised so that we

would attend church. He was raised that we might walk

in newness of life, that we would have a new life.

The way we testified to the world that Jesus is alive, the

way that the world will know that Jesus is alive, is by

living like we are alive, living like we have new lives.

Everything about us is new. We go to Costco every week

because we have four sons. One of my least favorite things

about Costco, by far least favorite thing, is they always

keep changing where things are in the store.

It drives me nuts. The chips have always been at

the front of the store. They've always been there.

For years they've been there and the other day they're now in the

back of the store. The lawn detergent was always on

the left side of the store. Years it's been there and now

it's on the right side of the store.

It's always something new. I like Safeway a lot better.

It never changes. I go into Safeway.

The peanut butter is always in the exact same spot.

Same aisle, same row, same spot. I know where it is.

I probably could find it blindfolded.

The milk is always in the same freezer.

Always. Jesus was not raised from the

dead so that we would look like a Safeway.

One year later, nothing has changed.

Five years later, nothing has changed.

We look exactly the same. He was raised so that we would

look like a Costco. Always something new, always

changing, always. He was raised that we would have

new life. Look at verse 5.

For if we have been united with him and a death like his, we

shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like his.

I think Paul's point here is that nobody wants a life of

death. To be a Christian means to be

united with Christ. And to be united with Christ

means to be united with him and his death.

But why would anybody choose this, right?

Like if, if, if you're not a Christian, you're here visiting

with us. And I told you, hey, would you

like to become a Christian? And you said yes.

And I said, what am I signing up for death?

Well, give me some time to think about it.

I wonder if at the beginning of Jesus's ministry when he called

his first 12 disciples to follow him, if they knew that it would

end in a cross, would any of them followed him?

When I get he told him up front, he said, hey guys, follow me by

the way, I'm going to a cross and you're going to join me in

that with any of them followed him.

If they knew that they were what they were signing up for was

death, would any of them signed on the dotted line?

And yet here we are 2000 years later and people are still

signing with their blood. Why?

Because Paul says if we have been united with him and a death

like his, we will also be united with him and a resurrection like

his. Jesus invites us into his death,

but he also invites us into his resurrection.

And this is a glorious reality because death comes knocking on

everybody's door. There's a lot of talk these days

about equity and equality. Some people are rich, some

people are poor. Some people are privileged.

Some people are underprivileged. Some people have opportunities,

some people have lack lack of opportunities.

And for all this talk, there really is just one great

equalizer, though there's one great equalizer.

It doesn't care what gender you are, doesn't care what your net

worth is, doesn't care who your parents are, doesn't care

whether you're college educated, doesn't care where you are from.

Death comes knocking for all of us.

There's no way around it. Science can't solve it.

Riches can't buy out of it. Politicians can't filibuster it.

Lawyers can't defend against it. Judges can't overrule it.

But there is one who conquered it.

There is one who conquered it. There is one who went to battle

with death and came out victorious.

And he invites us to be united with him.

Look at verse 6. We know that our old self was

crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought

to nothing so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.

Paul writes that our old self was crucified with Christ.

The old self is how Paul refers to our life prior when we were

lost. I want you to notice the

contrast here. Christ was raised from the dead

that we would walk in newness of life.

Our old self was crucified with Christ.

Notice the contrast. New life, old self.

In other words, what he's getting at is that there is a

clear difference between who we were apart from Christ and who

we are in Christ. There's a clear distinction. 1

is old, one is new. The thing about crucifixion is

that you can't just crucify a hand.

There's no such thing as crucifying someone's hand.

You can't just crucify a foot. So such thing as crucifying a

foot that crucify the entire body.

Likewise, our entire old self was crucified.

Every part of your life is to be crucified.

Our old emotions, our old emotions, our old thoughts, our

old habits, our old addictions, our old proclivities, our old

tendencies, all of it was crucified with Christ.

Paul writes that it was crucified for a purpose.

What was the purpose? He says look at it in order that

the body of sin might be brought to nothing literally so that the

body of sin would be rendered ineffective or inoperative.

Literally the this body of sin will be rendered ineffective or

inoperative. I was reading an article this

past week that Lauren sent me called Beacon Hill Drug Camps.

That was the name of the article, Beacon Hill Drug Camps.

It was sharing how homelessness and affordable housing is not

the problem, Drugs are. There are several neighborhoods

in the Beacon Hill area that have just been overrun by drug

camps. There are several parks that

virtually no longer exist because of these drug camps.

And they were saying how the city's solution to the problem

isn't working and never will because as long as there are

drugs, it'll never change. You can.

You can build houses, you can move, you can be.

But as long as there's drugs, it'll never change.

We could even take it one step further.

As long as there is sin, it'll never change.

It'll never change. Addiction is too powerful.

It's too powerful. You can remove the drugs, but

how do you remove the desire for the drugs?

Even if you were to go in and just remove all the drugs, the

desire is still there. How do you get rid of the

desire? We've all seen it, people

walking around like zombies. Isn't that all of us in our sin?

Aren't we all zombies and our sin?

We may not be addicted to drugs in our lostness, but perhaps

we're addicted to pornography or lust, or sex, or riches or

possessions or financial security, exercise or image,

video games, sports, social media, alcohol, food, travel.

Apart from Christ, Everybody's addicted to something and it

will never change. It will never change until

something or someone renders it ineffective or inoperative.

The desire will always be there until something or someone comes

and renders it ineffective or inoperative.

You ever had a simple desire as a lost person or even as an

immature Christian, and now in Christ you can confidently say I

don't desire it anymore? You ever had that happen?

You can look back at your life as a lost person or maybe even

as an immature Christian and this desire for something simple

was so strong in your life. But now in Christ, or maybe

mature in Christ, you can confidently say I don't desire

it anymore. This is what happened when our

old self was crucified with Christ.

Our body of sin was rendered ineffective in operative, and

look at what Paul says so that we would no longer be enslaved

to sin. Isn't it interesting that the

world sees Christians as being enslaved?

They see us as being enslaved to morality, or enslaved to the

church, or enslaved to a set of rules, when in reality we are

all slaves to something. We're either a slave to Christ

or a slave to sin. Prior to Christ, when someone

offended me, I was enslaved to my offense.

When someone irritated me or bothered me, I was enslaved to

my anger. When someone got praise that I

deserved, I was enslaved to my jealousy.

When I didn't receive what I wanted most, I was enslaved to

my discontentment. When someone sinned against me,

I was enslaved to my unforgiveness.

When something felt good, I was enslaved to my pleasure.

When others did well, I was enslaved to comparison and

competition. But in Christ, we are no longer

enslaved. We are set free.

Look at verse 7. For one who has died has been

set free from sin. Brother scissors, if you have

died with Christ, you have been set free from sin.

When you are offended, you are free to overlook that offence.

You are free to overlook it when you are irritated or bothered.

You are free to be patient when someone else gets the praise

that you deserve. You are free to humble yourself

when you don't get what you want most in this life.

You are free to be content when someone sins against you, You

are free to forgive them when something feels good.

You are free to find a greater pleasure when others do well.

You are free to rejoice with those who rejoice.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ set us free.

Now Satan's going to come to you and convince you that you're not

free. He's going to tell you that you

don't have a choice. This is who you are.

We often hear this in the LGBTQ community.

They will say, this is my identity.

You can't just ask me to give up my identity.

This is my identity. This is who I am.

But it's not just that community.

It's every community. It's every community Satan tries

to convince us of the lie that we are the sum product of all of

our choices. If you take all of my desires

and all of my proclivities and all of my background and

somewhere that I am the sum product of it.

And then you know, and he convinced that you can't just

pretend that doesn't exist. You can tell yourself that you

don't have this desire, but it's there, Matt.

You can't just pretend like it doesn't exist.

Yet in Christ, one of two things happens.

Either a Christ changes our desires so that we're set free

from them. We no longer have the sinful

desire. Or B.

Christ gives us the power to choose a greater desire so that

we're set free from them. I want to be very clear that

being set free doesn't mean that Christ will always change your

desires in your flesh. You may always desire a

particular sin when you become a Christian.

It's not as though Christ is going to change every single

sinful desire you have in your flesh.

You may always have have a particular desire for a sin, but

in Christ He sets you free to choose a greater desire.

Do not believe the lie that you have to wait for the desire to

go away before you'll be set free from it.

You don't. The desire may never go away,

but a greater desire will replace it.

Think of verse 8. Now if we have died with Christ,

we believe that we will also live with Him.

If we have died with Him, we believe also live with Him.

Notice this phrase with Christ. This is one of Paul's favorite

phrases with Christ, where we get the idea of union with

Christ. He says if we have died with

him, how did we die with Christ? Right.

How do we die with Christ? Let me give a very imperfect

analogy. Suppose a husband's wife grew

sick, so sick that she couldn't get out of bed.

She needs to be cared for 24/7. This husband loves his wife,

loves her more than more than his own life, and so he stays by

her side. He is with her in her sickness

even though he himself is not physically sick.

Her sickness is his sickness. Her suffering is his suffering.

He does not leave her and go and live his life.

He does not just check in with her once a week and say, hey,

I'll be here from 10:00 to 11:30 on Sundays and then I got things

to do. He identifies with her in her

sickness. In the same way, when Christ

died on the cross, we died with Him.

Yes, we were not physically on the cross, but when we take up

our cross daily, we die with Him.

When we stay near the cross, we die with Him.

When we put our sin to death, we die with Him.

His death becomes our death. We identify with Him in this and

look what Paul says, Those who have died with him, we believe

that we will also live with him. It is only those who have died

with him that will live with him.

The cross is the ticket to living with Him.

The only ones who are given access to living with Christ in

the next life are those who smell like the cross.

Paul is reminding us that death has a purpose.

Death is an invitation. It's an invitation to life,

friend. How do you know what your

address will be in the next life?

How do you know what your address will be in the next

life? Here's how you know.

Where did you live in this life? There's only one street that

populates heaven and it's called Calvary Rd.

Have you built your home on this road or have you gone out into

the suburbs of this world, into a comfortable, comfortable

suburb of this world? I don't like that road.

The road is lonely, it's difficult, it's painful at

times, it's dark. But those who live on this road

get their mail forwarded to heaven's gates.

Verse 9. We know that Christ, being

raised from the dead, will never die again.

Death no longer has dominion over Him.

And notice he says, we know that Christ was raised from the dead.

He will never die again. This is important because Jesus

was not the only person in history to be raised from the

dead. The widow of Zarephath's son was

raised from the dead. The Shunammites woman and son

was raised from the dead. The man in the grave who was

buried with Elisha's body was raised from the dead.

The widow of Nain's son was raised from the dead.

Jairus's daughter was raised from the dead.

Lazarus was raised from the dead.

Tabitha was raised from the dead.

Eunuchus was raised from the dead.

So how is Jesus being raised from the dead any different than

these 8 individuals? What's the difference?

Because all eight of them died again.

They were born. They died.

They were raised from the dead and then at some point later

they died again. But in Christ.

Christ when he was raised from the dead, he didn't die again.

He will never die again. Jesus says in Revelation 118.

I died and behold I am alive forever more and I have the keys

of death. And Hades.

I was reading this website that has satire comics.

It's kind of like dark comics. I like dark humor.

I was in this website that has satire comics on it and one of

them was this picture of two grim reapers.

One of the grim reapers looked fine.

The other grim Reaper was like holding his head and was all

bruised and beaten up. And the one who looked fine said

to the bruised and beaten up one.

How does it feel to be the one who finally brought in Chuck

Norris? Chuck Norris was a martial arts

expert. He was a movie star.

Jokes about him have become legendary, as though he was

invincible. He may have seen those memes

online like he's he's, he's invincible.

He can't die. But even Chuck Norris lost to

death. The reality is that all of us go

to battle with Death and every one of us loses.

You ever heard the phrase Father Time is undefeated?

So was Death. Since the beginning of Time, for

thousands and thousands of years, Death has been

undefeated. Kings have battled him and lost.

Philosophers have battled him and lost.

Rich men have battled him and lost.

Doctors have battled him and lost.

Death was the undisputed heavyweight champion of the

world until Jesus came along. And Jesus went to battle with

this ancient foe, and three days later he came out victorious.

The Grim Reaper is not just bruised and beaten up, he is

dead. Jesus killed Death.

Look what Paul says. Death no longer has dominion

over him. Death has been dethroned.

He has lost his crown, and now Jesus takes his seat and death

throne. And this is good news for us,

because if death no longer has dominion over him, it also means

that death no longer has dominion over us.

We can't lose to death. We can't lose.

I heard someone the other day speaking to a sick person.

This is what they told them. Fight, fight, fight.

There's no fighting needed, The fight has already been won.

No fighting needed. The fight has been won.

If we die in this life, whether we are 35 or 85, it's not a

loss, it's a win. To live is Christ and die is

gain. We can't lose because death no

longer has dominion over us. The verse 10 for the death, he

died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to

God. The death he died, he died to

sin. What does that mean?

Here's what it doesn't mean. It doesn't mean that Jesus had

to die for his sin. It doesn't mean that we know

that Christ had no sin to die too.

So what does this mean? I think it means that Christ not

only went to battle with death, he also went to battle and went

to battle with death and 1 he also went to battle with sin and

1. He took on 2 enemies, one of

them death, the other sin. Part of why Jesus needed to come

to this earth and take on flesh is because He needed to identify

with sinners. He needed to identify with this

fallen world. He needed to go to battle every

day of his life. And He did.

All 33 years of his life He went to battle with sin every single

day, and every day He won. There was never a day he lost a

sin. He beat sin every single day.

And he was tempted just like you and me.

It's not as though you're like, oh, we weren't really tempted.

He was God to it. He was tempted.

He was hungry in the desert. I'm sure women were attractive

to him. He was tempted except every time

he defeated sin. But Jesus was not simply a model

to show us. He didn't just live this life to

show us. Hey guys, wanted to show you

that living a sinless life is possible.

That's part of it. But he also came to remove the

power of sin for us. He said I'm going to battle

against sin so that I will remove.

He's not going to make a sinless life, but he says I will remove

its power from your life on the cross.

God made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf.

And when he died, he not only took on death, he also took on

the power of sin. And when he was raised from the

dead, he not only defeated death, he also defeated the

power of sin. And notice once for all, Paul

says once for all, we don't need to add to this you.

You don't need to add to this fight of like how to how do I

gain power over my sin Christ. This is not a spiritual battery

that we need to go and recharge it to make it effective.

My old van's battery died the other day.

We have we have two vans or they're both old.

My, my older, older van, my, my, my really like 22 year old van's

battery died the other day. I've been driving it.

It's just not comprehensive. So it's just sitting there.

I'm keeping it in case the boys need it when they start driving.

I've been driving it once a week because just for a few minutes

around the neighborhood because I read online that I shouldn't

let it sit idle for months on end.

So I was like, all right, so once a week I drive around the

neighborhood. While I was doing this in hopes

to maintain the van, what I actually was doing was draining

the battery because it turns out I didn't realize that I was not

giving the alternator long enough time to recharge the

battery. It you have to get up to like 45

miles an hour and drive for like 15 minutes for the alternator to

fully recharge the battery. So every time I was driving it,

I was just draining the battery. In the Christian life, we don't

need an alternator. We don't need an alternator.

Your battery is always charged. I'm not denying that we don't

grow weak. We do grow weak.

But what I am saying is this. You always have power over sin.

There is never a time where you go to start your spiritual

battery and you're like, man, it's dead.

I guess I'll just go for a simple walk.

You always have power over sin. Always.

I can't defeat the power of sin in my life because it's already

been defeated. We have access to everything we

need to be victorious in this life, Paul writes.

Life he now lives, he lives to God, meaning Jesus is not

continuing to die for the sins of the world.

He's not dying every day in order to rinse into powerless

right. You say, well, maybe I don't

like Jesus doesn't need he doesn't die every day saying,

hey guys, I got to keep dying every day to keep this charge

going to make sure that you've got power over this.

No, that one time, that one act, was enough for all time, for all

Christians to have power every day of their life over sin.

When he died, he said it is finished, and when he said it

was finished and he ascended into heaven, what did he do?

He sat down at the right hand of God.

His life is now lived unto the Father, meaning He accomplished

all that the Father had willed for him.

If you want to be reminded that sin has no dominion over you,

that sin has no power over you, then look no further than the

Savior sitting at the right hand of God.

He is not in heaven up there biting his nails and pacing back

and forth. Oh my gosh, how do I get this

Mat? Stop sitting like what?

What I need to do. Like oh gosh, I got to come up

with a plan. He is not doing that.

He is sitting there telling us by the Holy Spirit, you have

what you need. You have what you need to kill

this sin in your life. Christ has defeated the power of

sin. Look at verse 11.

So also you must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive

to God in Christ Jesus. Paul says you must consider

yourselves dead to sin. What does it mean to be dead to

sin? What does that mean to be dead

to sin? I'll give you a practical

example, not a theological 1. As a pastor, I like to check the

news. I actually don't like to check

the news, but I feel like I have to because I'm a pastor, because

I want to engage in conversation with you.

I don't want to be like what? We're in war with Iran.

I had no idea I I want to be able to engage in conversation

with you. So I, I checked the news.

There was a popular news website that I used to check daily, but

this particular website would always have inappropriate

articles and inappropriate thumbnails.

For years I justified it because I thought it's a conservative

network and I don't want to read the liberal news.

But finally, about a month ago, I talked to my wife and I told

her that I actually made a vow to God.

This is true. I made a vow to God that I would

never check this website again and I intend to keep it.

I am dead to this website and the website is dead to me.

Now. I recognize you can't do that

with everything in your life. Marriage will cause you to sin

and you can't consider yourself dead to your marriage.

Your job will cause you to sin, and you can't consider yourself

dead to employment. Parenting will cause you to sin,

and you can't consider yourself dead to your children.

But how much of our life are we able to consider ourselves dead

too? Is there a constant source of

temptation in your life? Is there something in your life

that you have just been battling over and over again and for one

reason or another, you've made justifications for it?

Video games, sports, entertainment, social media,

alcohol, food, school shopping, relationships.

One way to consider yourself dead to sin is just cut it off.

Just cut it off. Don't even try to fight it

anymore, just cut it off. If you can't remove it from your

life, you're like, well I can't remove this from my life.

If you can't do that, can you make changes to this area of

your life? If school is an idol in your

life, can you change majors? Do you have to get a degree in

this? If dating is causing you to

engage in sexual immorality, can you get married ASAP or break up

ASAP? If parenting is causing you to

sin, can you seek counsel or can you make changes in your

parenting? But the sisters, don't make

peace with your sin. Don't accept that it is what it

is. This is just how it's going to

be. Don't make peace with your sin.

Consider yourselves dead to your sin.

Do whatever is necessary to consider yourself dead to it.

And let me be very clear about this.

The Christian life is not about just being dead to sin.

The Christian life is not about just being dead.

In fact, it is far more about being alive to God in Christ

Jesus. I want to exhort you, don't be a

Christian Buddhist. This is someone who makes

Christianity about all about removing of desire, that

Christianity is just. I need to get rid of this desire

that is only part of the Christian life.

Christianity is far more about being alive to God in Christ

Jesus, living with new desires and new pleasures.

Christ died and rose again, not simply to kill our pleasures,

but to transform them. Our pleasures are very much

alive. Be careful.

Don't hear this is saying man. Sounds like you're preaching,

you know, just asceticism here. Don't enjoy anything.

No enjoy all good things. Be alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Our joy is very much alive. Christians should be the

happiest people in the world. I wonder, I thought about this

thing and I must say this true for me, but I wonder, like if

you were to stop, go home today over lunch and say, name the top

five people in your life that you know are the happiest people

you can think of. How many of them are in this

room? Are any of them in this room?

Are you on anybody's list? We should be the happiest people

in the world. Jesus rose from the dead and

because of this we have a new life.

We will be resurrected. We are no longer enslaved to

sin. We have been set free from sin.

We will live with Him. We are dead to sin.

We are alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Show the world that Christ has made you alive.

Let's pray.