"Made New" Pt.2

Hi, this is John Ozanting, lead pastor of Evolved Church, and this is the Evolved Church Podcast.

Thanks so much for tuning in.

We hope that you find today's message encouraging and full of hope for wherever you're at.

So we are on part two of our made new series.

And last week, Becca shared with us a phrase that she said multiple times if you caught it.

And she said, now is the time to be made new.

It's not about waiting for later, it's about right now.

The time has come to be made new.

And she also talked about how people naturally have this desire for new things.

She talked about some of the chemical process that happens in our brain when we experience new experiences and see new things and even purchase new items.

She talked about thrifting a little bit.

I was listening from home while I was watching, but it was good and it had me thinking back to March 6th when I preached last.

And I preached from the Leaving the Dust Behind series, and I mentioned we were just going into a renovation at our home, and we were about to start making a bunch of dust fitting for the Dust Behind series.

And now we are moving back in tomorrow to our house that is basically brand new, and we're in the made new series.

So I don't know how that happened, but it's pretty exciting, and it's a real honor to bookend that renovation, all that fun at my home, with being able to preach to you guys as well.

And it was really got me thinking about um things that are new.

And I know my wife and I are super excited for this new home, this new experience, but more than anything, my son Merrick is super excited for all of the new things in his house.

One of the first things I did when I could was put the door on in his bedroom so that when he'd come over to visit and see what dad had done, he got to see his room.

And then he begged and begged for a doorknob.

And he said, Daddy, I want a new doorknob.

And then every time he sees someone, it's like, Grandma, I have a new doorknob.

Uncle Gono, I have a new doorknob.

I'm gonna get carpet in my room.

We're gonna have a new bathtub.

And he's talking about all of these new things and new experiences that he is beyond excited for.

And it really made me think about this series a little bit.

Are we just as excited to have our lives made new?

Are we just excited to see what the new things God's doing in our life is?

And it's fitting that Baptism Sunday is happening today.

I share in next steps about how baptism is this moment where we get to share this brand new thing that God's doing in our life and share it with everyone and show the excitement.

So that's a little bit what we're gonna talk about today.

Last week, Becca focused a little bit on um our minds being made new.

And today I'm gonna talk a little bit on our actions and our old ways and what new action is look like.

And we're gonna look through Ephesians 4 a little bit.

But the first question I want to ask is this why am I here?

You've probably heard um philosophers ask this question.

You might have heard it in high school, in a class, you had to answer that question, why am I here?

And this isn't a literal, why am I here in the seats in this room, or why am I on my couch eating my cinnamon bun with cream cheese icing, drinking my coffee, watching today.

This is the general, why am I here?

Yes, I do love cream cheese icing on my cinnamon buns, so had to throw that in there.

But yes, exactly.

But there is this um author, he's very well known from the uh 1800s, his name is Dostoevsky, and he said this the mystery of human existence lies not in just staying alive, but in finding something to live for.

It's not just about getting to the next day and still being alive, it's not just about making it through that road trip or that long family vacation and getting home still alive, getting through that tough thing still alive, but it's about finding something to live for.

So, what does it actually look like to be made new a man or woman of God, and how do I get there?

So, as we're looking today at Ephesians 4, I want us to think about this big question.

Are you willing to stop hiding and run to the Father today?

Are you willing to stop hiding and run to the Father?

And that is the main question that we're gonna have in the back of our heads throughout this morning as we read some scripture and look at some points.

So we're gonna start today, Ephesians 4, verse 17 to 19.

Ephesians 4:17–19

And so I insist, and God backs me up on this, and I love that phrase there, and God backs me up on this, so you know what's gonna be important.

That there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd.

They've refused for so long to deal with God that they've lost touch not only with God, but with reality itself.

They can't think straight anymore.

Feeling no pain, they let themselves go in sexual obsession, addicted to every sort of perversion.

They've refused for so long to deal with God that they've lost touch with not only God, but with reality itself.

And I'm not gonna ask for a show of hands this morning on this, but how many of you, if you are truly answering this question, have felt moments like this in your life where you actually feel like you've just lost touch with reality?

Like you've lost touch with everything that is right and wrong, and sometimes you don't even know which way to turn anymore.

You've lost touch with reality itself.

Paul describes the Gentiles and the behavior that they were experiencing, and it was ultimate moral depravity, a full lack of guilt for any sin that they had committed.

They didn't really know what they were doing anymore, and Paul was giving a warning.

So, as we focus on that today, I have three thoughts for you.

So if you have your papers, you can write these down.

And the first one is this we are all called to follow Jesus.

It sounds very simple, but there's some profound words in that statement, and we're looking at the things that Paul outlines that we are not to do.

So these people were full of sin, they were self-centered, their entire lives were filled with impurities, they had no sense of right and wrong.

And Paul was warning the church that they should not let that behavior rub off on their lives.

And I know I've experienced this in my life, but sometimes we come to church and we're surrounded by all these great people.

But then six days of the week, we go into the world and we can be surrounded by some pretty terrible atmosphere that actually we can allow to rub off on our lives, some of those things, the full of sin, the self-centered.

I'm sure when you go to some of your workplaces, you see people constantly that would describe some of these things Paul's describing.

And he wanted to warn them that they are actually called to follow Jesus, to live lives that don't reflect the ways of the world, but that reflect the ways of Jesus.

A completely different lifestyle, something new, something different from culture.

And it got me thinking about the story of Jesus calling some of his disciples.

And we're gonna look at two different instances of Jesus calling his disciples here.

And remember that Jesus is also calling you guys to follow him as we're reading through this.

Matthew 4, verse 18 to 22.

Matthew 4:18–22

One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon, also called Peter, and Andrew, throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living.

Jesus called out to them, Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people.

They left their nets at once and followed him.

A little further up the shore, he saw two other brothers, James and John, sitting in a boat with their father Zebedee, repairing their nets, and he called them to come too.

They immediately followed him, leaving their boat and their father behind.

And you always hear about it, these guys, you know, they don't have a noble background.

Um, they were fishers, and all of a sudden, Jesus calls them and he says, Hey, come follow me.

And that same calling is on all of our lives today.

And we think about these disciples that were first called, they weren't the ones that you would think would be worthy of following this amazing rabbit, this amazing teacher.

Not by earthly standards at least.

But they were worthy by the only thing that matters, and that is God's standards and the fact that they were actually called, that they turned from their old ways, their lives of fishing, and actually left everything behind and followed him.

And I know that sounds a little bit ominous and like a big calling, and no, that doesn't mean that this morning God's calling you to quit your job and completely follow him.

Well, maybe for someone in the room that might actually be what it is, but it's actually a calling of a lifestyle and behavior change for all of us.

For some people, that actually might mean moving halfway across the world and doing the Lord's work.

For others, it might mean going to a new city and planting a church like our pastors did four years ago.

For others, it might simply mean having a new approach every day of your life as you go to your daily routine.

Just as Jesus called those first disciples, he is calling us this morning.

But I still feel like there's one, maybe two, three people watching in the room or watching online, and you're like, okay, that's for the ordinary people, but I am no ordinary man or woman.

You have no idea the things that I have done.

I have lied countless times, I've cheated people, I've prayed on the weak, I've manipulated people to the point of only being gain for myself.

I'm not a good person.

Jesus doesn't want me to follow him.

But I'll say to you, Jesus has also called you to follow him.

And we're gonna look at another disciple that Jesus called, a guy named Matthew, and he probably felt a lot of these things literally that I just listed there: manipulated, stole, cheated, lied, prayed on the weak.

Matthew 9, verse 9 to 12 says this.

Matthew 9:9–12

As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at his tax collector's booth.

Follow me and be my disciple, Jesus said to him.

So Matthew got up and followed him.

Later, Matthew invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners.

But when the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, Why does your teacher eat with such scum?

When Jesus heard this, he said, Healthy people don't need a doctor, but the sick people do.

Now Matthew was a tax collector, and tax collectors, like Matthew, would have been considered a traitor to the Israelite people, a traitor to his own people because he had turned against them and was collecting money for the government.

And now I'm sure a lot of you when tax season comes, if you're self-employed, you probably don't love it.

Um I know I did that that was a stressful thing the last two weeks, trying to get all my taxes together.

But taxes back then, not only were you paying the taxes you owed, but depending on who you paid to, you were paying above and beyond that they pocketed themselves.

So that is the lifestyle that this man, Matthew, had been living.

A man who cheated others.

But he was also called because Jesus knew that there was a redemption story for him, that there was something more for him.

And my favorite line that I read there was this Why do you eat with such scum?

I actually think it's one of the most beautiful portrayals of Jesus that you can find in Scripture, that he would eat with scum.

How do you feel?

Like, like I know in my life there's been many moments where I felt like scum myself.

And I'm sure show of hands, everyone in the room will have known a time where you just felt dirty, like you felt like you just needed to get away, and you're like, how am I ever gonna be made clean again?

I feel like scum.

But the good news is that Jesus is there to help us get the filth off.

And that brings me to the second thought today.

It's this we are all called to redemption.

First we're called to follow Jesus, but then we are called to redemption.

Some of you might now have accepted the fact that, okay, okay, Jesus, yes, he's called me.

I get that, but you still feel like you have a need to hide, like you have a need to hide from God.

Like, like you just need to back away into a corner.

And that brings me back to that big question again.

Are you willing to stop hiding this morning and run to the Father?

Are you willing to stop hiding?

We're gonna look at uh a quick story of Adam and Eve here from Genesis three, because when I think of hide and seek, I think of the very first story of hide and seek ever recorded.

Genesis three, verse seven to nine.

At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness.

So they sewed fig leaves together to cover themselves.

When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden.

So they hid from him.

They hid from the Lord among the trees.

And then the Lord God called to the man and he said, Where are you?

Now, this isn't the normal hide and seek.

This isn't the hide and seek that I play with my son, where he wants to close the door on you and then giggles endlessly when you finally open the door.

The peekaboo moments, those fun times, this isn't a fun game of hide and seek.

There's no peekaboo moment with God here.

God knew exactly where they were, but he was calling out to them, Where are you?

Why is it that Adam and Eve felt this shame?

What they like they felt such a need to back away and try to get away from God.

They suddenly realized what right and wrong truly were when they ate that fruit and brought sin into this world.

And now there was the separation between them and God, and they just felt like they were not even worthy of being in his presence anymore and needed to hide from him.

You've heard of fight or flight.

They had the run and hide instinct.

And I know as a child, I can remember the place in my house that I used to go hide.

There was a spot between my couch and an end table right by the TV, and when I did something wrong, like I hurt my mom or like was like did something really bad and didn't want to face the consequences, I would go to that spot, put a blanket over my head, sometimes hold my breath, and hope that if I just stayed there long enough, that it would just blow over and that there'd be no consequences.

But that's because I knew that I did something wrong.

Like there was this instinct that I felt ashamed of what I had done and I wanted it to go away.

Are you at a point in your life where you feel like you need to hide from your family, from your friends, from God?

Maybe it was something you said, something you did, maybe it was something that you didn't do that you really regret not doing in the moment.

But you know what?

The longer we wait to hope for everything to go away, the worse everything ends up getting, and the more the pain that is caused.

Ephesians 4, verse 30 says, Don't grieve God, don't break his heart.

Ephesians 4:30

His Holy Spirit moving and breathing in you is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself.

Don't take such a gift for granted.

Growing up in the church, you hear lots of pastors talk about what it's like to be a father and raise a child and how they can suddenly relate to things in scripture differently.

And now I get to have those moments in my life as I'm thinking about what it means to break God's heart.

What does that actually look like?

Like that's a heavy word when you say don't break God's heart.

But my son, he's two and a half right now, and shout out to Mackenzie for this.

But the testing twos, anyone heard of the testing twos?

I know that she knows my knows the feeling right now, but he's got all these emotions and things he's trying to test out and learn.

And in the process, he actually can break our hearts.

He's trying to realize what makes him happy and what things he can get away with.

And the problem is, is he for a long time didn't really realize that mom and dad have emotions too.

That when he's upset, he just wants it to get better, but he doesn't realize that some of the things he do makes us upset, that makes us sad, that makes us want to cry, that makes us angry.

And he's we're trying to teach him that, you know, mom and dad have emotions, and he's allowed to experience all the emotions he's experiencing, but so are we.

And it got me thinking about some of the things as we're seeking our own happiness, as we're seeking to try and do the things that we can get away with.

We are actually sometimes breaking God's heart in the process because we should be seeking the things that make God happy, that bring pleasure to God, because that will actually bring us true happiness.

And if I can relate even this much to what it means to feel like that, it helps me understand this passage just a little bit better.

And as I was researching what Bible scholars thought was going on here in verse 30, the things that were being done as to why Paul needed to write this, what could they be doing that he said you were breaking God's heart?

Another translation actually says, making the spirit sad.

So if you think about it, as Christians, we actually invite God's spirit to live inside of us.

He resides in us.

And they were starting to do a little bit of actions that were causing harm to their fellow believers.

And when they're doing that, they're actually causing harm to the spirit that's also living inside of these people.

They were doing things like acting out in anger, there was stealing going on, there was foul and abusive language, there was lying.

Some of those things that the Gentiles were doing was leaking into the church and was happening to one another.

So these actions needed to be dealt with.

As we're being made new, these actions like this need to be dealt with.

We have the Spirit residing in us, He's living in us.

And being made new means that we start putting these things actually behind us and finding actual ways to encourage and help our fellow followers of Jesus.

Being made new means putting the things behind us and also encouraging and helping those that have yet to know Jesus.

But what about when you say or do something that makes you feel like hiding?

Because, as the Bible says, we've all sinned and we've all fallen short of God's glory, and that's not gonna change.

So there are gonna be moments where we mess up, where we have that hiding instinct.

But we don't have to hide like Adam and Eve.

We don't have to run into the garden and hide behind a tree hoping that God won't see us.

We need to start realizing that when we've done something wrong, that realization is actually part of the process of being made new.

You see, shame is something that makes us want to run and hide.

Shame, that is not a good thing.

We don't want to experience shame, but guilt is something we're all going to feel, and guilt can actually push us to run to the Father, to run to his open arms, because we are called to redemption.

And if you've never heard that word or you don't actually know what it means, redemption simply means the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil.

We are all called to Jesus to accept his forgiveness and to not have to walk in shame, to not feel a need to run and hide anymore, because guilt actually helps us realize that we're doing something wrong.

And as the Spirit convicts us of that sin, it pushes us to run to the Father's open arms and hopefully gets us to the place where we stop doing that thing that we've been doing.

It's not a game of terrified hide and seek, it's actually a game of updaddy, of updaddy.

That's what it is.

That is actually what guilt can push us to do.

So can we shift our focus from feeling shame for the things that we do and start realizing that our guilt is actually a healthy thing?

It's actually the Spirit convicting us.

Proverbs 28, verse 13 says this whoever conceals their sins does not prosper.

Proverbs 28:13

But the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

We can't keep our sin hidden.

We serve a loving and merciful God who is always waiting for us when we mess up.

And then when we mess up again, he's still waiting for us with those same outstretched arms to soak in his love to run to him.

Now, this isn't an excuse to sin because we know that those arms are there.

That's not what we're talking about.

But this is for when we actually do mess up.

The redemptive love of Jesus is always waiting for us.

The price has been paid for us, for you and for you, and for you online.

For me, the price has already been paid.

Because you see, sin separated us from God.

That was that separation that Adam and Eve felt.

But Jesus is the one who provided a way for us to connect again with God's presence.

When we repent of our sins and find redemption, When we run to the Father, we are being made new.

Are you willing to stop hiding this morning and run to the Father?

And then my third thought today is we are called to be a light.

So we're called to follow Jesus, we're called to redemption, but then we are actually called to be a light.

And a song came to my mind here, and I think it's actually a little bit funny because I was I was running through the sermon, I realized, wait, I quoted DC talk in my last sermon too.

So I guess this bookend thing is truly coming to fruition here.

But it's because this was the first CD I ever owned.

It was in my discman all the time.

It was in my discman all the time.

And yes, I did have a Walkman at well, but this was my first actual CD that I owned.

And we're gonna look at some lyrics from the song in the light right now.

It says, I keep trying to find a life on my own apart from you.

I am the king of excuses.

I've got one for every selfish thing I do.

Tell me what's going on inside of me.

I despise my own behavior.

This only serves to confirm my suspicions that I'm still a man in need of a savior.

I want to be in the light as you are in the light.

I want to shine like the stars in the heavens.

This disease of self runs through my blood.

This disease of self runs through my blood.

It's a cancer fatal to my soul.

Every attempt on my behalf has failed to bring this sickness under control.

Tell me what's going on inside of me.

I despise my own behavior.

This only serves to confirm my suspicion that I'm still a man in need of a savior.

I want to be in the light as you are in the light.

And this really made me reflect back actually on the beginning of what I said today about the attitudes and culture that the Gentiles were having, the self-centered actions, the uh the ways of man that are actually just make you feel sick about how you're acting, realizing that we all need a savior.

The crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd, they've refused for so long to deal with God that they've lost touch not only with God, but with reality itself.

Have those words resonated in your life?

I despise my own behavior.

I'm still a man in need of a savior.

We are all in need of Jesus, but we're not called to just be in the light.

We are actually also called to be a light to others.

Matthew 5, verse 13 to 16 says this you are the salt of the earth.

Matthew 5:13–16

If salt loses its taste, how can it be made to taste like salt again?

It is no good.

It is thrown away and people walk on it.

You are the light of the world.

You cannot hide a city that is on a mountain.

Men do not light a lamp and put it under a basket.

They put it on a table so it gives light to all in the house.

Let your light shine in front of men, then they will see the good things you do and will honor your father who is in heaven.

And I don't think she knew this, but my wife's actually wearing her salty shirt based on this verse, which is I just noticed that now, so that's kind of funny.

We did not talk about this beforehand.

But you see, salt is something that they talked about, and salt, when it loses its saltiness, is basically worthless.

And this isn't just about salt providing flavor.

Like, I like a lot of salt on my fries and on my food for flavor.

But salt is also used specifically back then as a preservative.

It actually helped preserve foods to make them last longer, to be more effective in the long run.

And we think of our faith the same way.

We're called to actually extend other people's lives.

We're called to preserve other people's lives, to enrich other people's lives, to help them find the eternity that we have found in Jesus, to help them find eternal life and preserve them.

And then there's the light.

The light is a very simple analogy.

Like you go into a dark room, you turn the light on, and bam, you can see again.

And that's what this whole message of being made new is all about.

It's about our actions changing to the point where we realize we were following Jesus, but we're called to have actions that are a light to the world because there is so much darkness, there's so much brokenness, and as we put aside our old ways, we have a new purpose that we have found in Jesus.

You see, we're called to redemption, called to recognize the hope that we all have.

We no longer have to run and hide.

There's no more shame.

We can run to the Father's arms, accept his mercy and grace that comes through Jesus, and then we are called to be that light, to be made new and help others be made new as well.

And as we all continually grow in our relationship with Jesus, more and more people are actually going to grow as well.

And it's also kind of funny because as I was recapping this in my notes, it really got me thinking to those three words that you hear every Sunday and you heard them this morning: belong, hope, and grow.

We're belong, we're all called to follow Jesus.

That's that sense of belonging, this that we're all called to the same purpose.

Hope, we're all called to redemption, the hope that is found in our Savior.

Grow, we're called to be a light, we're called to grow so we can help others walk into the same sense of belonging so that they can find hope, so that they can grow and do the same thing.

And the more you look at it, the more these three words you're just like, wow, this hits home.

And I love that we share them every single week.

Because if we look back at that quote that I shared earlier, the mystery of human existence lies not just in staying alive, but in finding something to live for.

As we are made new in Christ, we find what truly is worth living for.

And sometimes it doesn't feel easy, like the easy way is actually just to go hide because we don't have to deal with anything in the moment.

But the long-term damage of staying hidden is not worth the effort.

It is worth it to turn and run to the Father.

See, we're called to live our best life.

And that phrase is often quoted in the way of, you know, buy whatever you want, bring pleasure to yourself, do whatever makes you feel good.

But as we learn to actually please God, to live that new life, the best life actually comes when we are made new, when we have that new life.

And when we learn to run to God instead of hiding, we live our best life.

What area are you keeping hidden?

Something from your past, maybe it's a dark secret, so dark that you're actually maybe watching online and glad you're not in the room because you're just sinking in your seat, realizing you have to deal with this pain that is in your life.

Maybe it's something that you've never told anyone, and you've literally done your best to put on a face for years and years and years, and you've never dealt with it.

Are you willing to stop hiding this morning?

Are you willing to run to God?

We don't have to hide in shame anymore.

Allow that conviction of the Spirit to push you to the open arms of Jesus.

Ephesians 4, verse 30.

Ephesians 4:30

We're gonna read it again.

Don't grieve God, don't break his heart.

His Holy Spirit moving and breathing in you is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for himself.

Don't take such a gift for granted.

The Holy Spirit makes us fit for God.

Allow that to sink in.

We can't take that gift for granted.

It's time to run to the Father's open arms to repent of our sins and deal with some of that pain that's been caused in our life for so long.

And sometimes we like to give a little bit of homework when we preach here.

And so I actually have a little bit of a homework challenge for you guys this week.

But it's this in some quiet time, this isn't a long thing, take a moment and pray this prayer.

Ask God to help shine a light on areas of your life that you need to stop hiding.

For some of you, you actually might have forgot about them.

You've done such a good job hiding that you've even tricked yourself into thinking it's not there anymore.

So allow God to shine a light on the things that need to be dealt with on your life that have been broken for far too long.

And as he shines the light on this area of your life, it will allow you to be a truer and brighter light to the world.

It will allow you to be made new, to have new actions, to have new life found in Jesus.

And now there are others in this room that you're like, this is my first time in church.

I've never heard any of this before.

I don't know Jesus yet.

But maybe you resonate with these feelings of shame and guilt and wanting to hide.

And the beautiful thing is you can take a step this morning and you can stop hiding.

You can go and run to Jesus this morning and you can accept him into your life as your savior.

You may despise the actions that you've lived and realize that, oh, I really do want to live a better life.

I want to live my best life.

Well, you can stop hiding from your old ways, and you can actually accept Jesus into your life right now.

This is one of the best decisions you could ever make.

Believe me, hiding in the world is not worth it.

Turning to Jesus is the only way to find true hope, to find true happiness.

So I'm gonna say a prayer real shortly here, and we're just gonna invite you to uh pray after me.

But this is this is a very important step.

So if this is you in your heart right now, just agree with me in prayer.

Dear Jesus, I want to stop hiding.

I want to experience a new life.

Please make me new.

I realize I've sinned and I accept your forgiveness.

Jesus, I want you to be my Savior.

I want to turn from my old ways and live for you from this day on.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

So this is what I have for you today.

We're called to follow Jesus, we're called to redemption, and we're called to be a light.

Thank you so much for listening to today's message.

If you're ever in the Edmonton area, pop by for a visit.

And if you need any more information, visit Evolvechurch.com.

We hope to see you soon.