Daily Brainwashing Mountain Life Church/Life Pack/June 1-2, 2013
Daily Brainwashing Sermon Notes June 1-2, 2013 I. Change the Way We Walk! A. Old Self 1. Hopelessly confused 2. Their minds are full of darkness 3. Their hearts are hardened 4. Slaves to their desires Sex Stuff B. Simply take off that old shirt! 1. The authority we have 2. We don t really believe this stuff! 3. Either my attitudes and actions define me, 4. Or, God s truth defines me 5. What I truly believe will define my walk II. The New Me! A. Recreated 1. Righteousness 2. Holiness 3. Truth B. Walking 1. By Feeling 2. By Lies 3. By Truth III.Turkeys and Eagles A. I will soar or grovel depending on my view of myself B. I will never rise to stay above what I believe about myself and God 2 19
Read Ephesians 4:17-24 Table Talk Teens Question One: Describe the difference between the New Man and the Old Man as stated in Ephesians 4:17-24. Question Two: The Greek word for New does not mean something more recent in time, but something having a different quality or nature. How can you be New in Christ? Question Three: Paul compared the Christian life to stripping off the dirty clothes of a sinful past and putting on the snowy white robes of Christ s righteousness. What are things in your life that you need to strip off for the sake of Christ? Question Four: Believers have been made new in the attitude of their minds; they are no longer futile in their thinking, darkened in their understanding, and ignorant. Share some ways that your attitude can be renewed. 18 3
Life Group Questions for June 1-2, 2013 Message =Daily Brainwashing Ice Breaker: Tell about one of the most outrageous outfits you ever wore, or ever saw on someone else. Read Ephesians 4: 17-24 1. What do you observe about this passage? 2. Paul defines two kinds of people in this passage, see if you can tell who they are. 3. Ask the group if any of them came to Christ after they were already adults. Ask those people if Paul s description of life before Christ is accurate. 4. Before Christ, we are slaves to our desires. Paul distills those desires down to sex (lust) and stuff (materialism). He says we can take those desires off just like we take off a shirt. Do you find it that easy to deal with these desires? Please explain. Table Talk Elementary Bible Reading: Ephesians 4:17-24 Question #1 - If given the choice, what would you rather wear: old, dirty clothes with holes, etc. OR a new set of clothes that are clean and smell fresh? Why? This is a lot like what the Bible is talking about when it tells us to put off the old self and put on the new man. (Ephesians 4:24) Do you think a lot about what you are going to wear each day? Why is it important to think about putting on our "new man" every day? Old Man: The old, sinful person we were before coming to Jesus. New Man: The new, forgiven person we are after coming to Jesus. Bible Reading: Proverbs 12:22 Question #2 - When was the last time you told a lie? (Don't lie!) What was the reason for your lie? What does the Bible tell us about lying in Proverbs 12:22? Have you ever read the story of the boy who cried wolf? If not, read it and discuss the moral of the story with your parents! Bible Reading: Proverbs 15:1 Question #3 - What are some things that cause you to get angry? When you are angry, what do you do? Think of a time when you were angry and it caused you to do something that you later regretted. What is a good plan for you to do when you get angry so that you do not fall into sin? 5. Have three people read verse 24 in three different translations. What do you think this verse is saying? 6. Have someone who practices taking off the old self and puoing on the new self tell about how that has affected their life. 7. Pray for one another. 4 17
Table Talk Preschool & Nursery: Romans 8:14-17, John 14:15-21, Galatians 5:22-23 Day 1: Read Romans 8:14-17 Talk with your children about the Spirit of God or the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God is part of who God is. God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in one. Sort of like a peach, it has fuzzy skin, a fleshy fruit part, and a pit or big seed inside. Those are all parts of one juicy peach, not three peaches. As children of God, those who know Jesus, we are filled and lead by the Holy Spirit. Day 2: Read John 14:15-21 Discuss, as a family, the Holy Spirit living in each of us, as believers of Jesus. Re-read verses 19 and 20. The Holy Spirit is our guide and helps us know what to do and say. The Holy Spirit helps us to know what is true and even prays for us when we do not know what to say. The Holy Spirit is awesome! Memory Verse: For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say." -Luke 12:12 Day 3: Read Galatians 5:22-23 When we live according to the Holy Spirit, God brings special gifts into our lives. Similar to how He brings fruit to the fruit trees, only the fruit He gives us are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. As a family, try to memorize those words. Activity: Gather up nine different ingredients and make delicious fruit smoothies. Say the characteristics of the fruit of the spirit as you put in each ingredient. (Ice, honey, milk, orange juice, spinach, avocado, blueberries, strawberries, peaches, etc.) Super yum! Personal Devotion Pages The following pages are designed to help you enjoy a regular time alone with God. We have divided up the curriculum to help us grow wherever we are at in our relationship with God and in our knowledge of His Kingdom. LEVELS: Since we are a Colorado church, we use skiing imagery to communicate the different levels of intensity and time involved in relating to God. BEGINNER: If you are new in your relationship with God, we encourage you to try the exercises under this symbol: INTERMEDIATE: If you have walked with God for some time and would like a little more challenge and more time involvement, try the exercises under this symbol: ADVANCED: These exercises are for people who have walked with God for some time and display maturity in their relationship with Him. These exercises provide a practical way to encounter God and His truth on a regular basis. There are no rules here. Please don t hurry through the process. Slow meditation and memorization seems to soak in better than cramming. Enjoy! 16 5
Day One Day Five 1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately. Instead, there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes. You must display a new nature because you are a new person, created in God s likeness--righteous, holy, and true. ~Ephesians 4:23, 24, NLT 2. Meditate on Ephesians 4: 17-24 3. Take time to thank the Lord that you are recreated in righteousness, holiness, and truth. This statement puts it all to rest. I am a new creation and am created in God s likeness. My new nature is righteous, holy, and true. The difficulty comes from believing that my old nature is a better definition of me because of my daily performance and attitudes. At this point, I must either believe the truth or believe my experience. I can let my experience define who I am, or I can let God define me. If I truly believe God s definition of me, then that belief will begin to shape my actions and attitudes. Memorize Ephesians 4: 23-24 Memorize Ephesians 4: 20-24 Memorize Ephesians 4: 17-24 Again, my actions and attitudes can define who I am, or the truth of who I am will shape my actions and attitudes. I can take off the old me like taking off a shirt. I can put on the new me by saying, Yes, to Jesus. He always bears good news. His news will change me if I accept it. It s not a matter of fighting against my old me. It s a matter of taking off the old me and saying, I believe You, Lord. I believe You, Lord, even if my feelings don t agree, even if my doubts are raging in my mind, even if I struggle to accept Your love. I believe You! Thank You, Lord, that You have made me to soar like an eagle. I am no longer a turkey, made to grovel on the ground. I am Your child, made to soar above sin and circumstances! 6 15
Day Five 1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately. 2. Pray for God to work through you today as you go to work or school. Ask Him to speak through you and to influence your aoitude. Ask Him to help you be a continual worshiper. Day One With the Lord s authority let me say this: Live no longer as the ungodly do, for they are hopelessly confused. ~Ephesians 4:17, NLT Paul puts a lot of weight on the born again experience. Until the Holy Spirit comes in and sets up house, we are nothing more than dogged slaves who think we know what is right, but are victims of our own foolishness. Paul defines the person who is IN CHRIST as almost a new species of person. In this passage, Paul urges us, with all the authority he can muster, to live lives that are completely different from people who are NOT in Christ. The marked difference is seen in the inspiration and illumination that the Holy Spirit brings to our lives! The Spirit teaches us to live out truth, holy love, and righteous living. 3. Take at least ten minutes to pray for sick people in your life, thanking God that you have the authority to ask for their healing. 4. Finish your Bible memorization today. Sadly, the urge to go back to our old ways is magnetic. For Paul, giving in to that urge is like a butterfly going back to crawling like a caterpillar, or like an ex-alcoholic going back to drinking again after twenty years of sobriety. Because we are, by God s grace, a minority of eagles who live among a greater number of turkeys, the constant urge is to cluck rather than to soar. But once the Eagle knows that he is, by nature, meant to soar rather than to be a Thanksgiving dinner, he is free to be who God made him to be! We must continually renew our mind with the knowledge of who we are in Christ. Father, thank you that you have made me to soar rather than to cluck. I choose to renew my mind to the truth of what YOU say about me! 14 7
Day Two 1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately. 2. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you what lies you are continually believing about yourself. An example would be, I am a nothing, and I will never amount to anything. 3. Take time to take off the lies that continually dangle around your neck and put on the truth of who you are IN CHRIST. 4. Meditate again on the prayer in Ephesians 3: 16-20. Pray this prayer for yourself. 5. Continue memorizing and meditating on the scriptures for this week. Day Four Since you have heard all about him and have learned the truth that is in Jesus, throw off your old evil nature and your former way of life, which is rotten through and through, full of lust and deception. ~Ephesians 4:21, 22, NLT Paul uses the clothing metaphor often in his writings. The old me is like a shirt that I take off and replace with the shirt called, In Christ. Making such a comparison makes it seem too easy to many of us. Shedding my old way of thinking often feels like shedding my skin rather than taking off a shirt. For example, if I ve grown up in a home where I was neither valued nor encouraged, the message I will continually hear in my mind will tell me that I am not worthy and I am not lovable. Shedding this old way of thinking doesn t seem as easy as taking off a piece of dirty clothing. In fact, it seems to dominate our entire worldview. Paul implies something deep here. Based on the rest of the letter to the Ephesians, Paul tells us that we have the authority to take the old shirt off - just like that - and then put on the new nature, which is In Christ! The lies tell us that it s not that easy, but Paul says it s as easy as changing clothes. The lie wants us to walk in the mud, never really escaping our old selves. The truth tells me that I can simply shed the old ways of thinking and fly like an eagle! Father, show me the lies I ve chosen to believe for years. I choose this day to strip them off like an old shirt and put on the new me, which is created In Christ! 8 13
Day Four 1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately. 2. Ask the Lord to show you how you focus on lust and greed. Take time to simply remove that old garment and put on Christ. 3. Ask the Lord to show you where you are finding your sense of worth and your sense of significance. Write down your answers here. If the honest answers are not found in Christ, then take time to take them off and put on Christ. Day Two So this I say, and affirm together with the Lord, that you walk no longer just as the Gentiles also walk, in the futility of their mind, being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart... ~Ephesians 4:17-18, NAS According to William Barclay, Paul picks out what he considers the essential characteristics of heathen life. The heathen are concerned with empty things which do not matter; their minds are darkened because of their ignorance. Then comes the salient word: their hearts are petrified. The word which Paul uses for the petrifying of their hearts is grim and terrible. It is porosis. Porosis comes from poros, which originally meant a stone that was harder than marble. Medically... the word came to mean the loss of all power of sensation; it described something which had become so hardened, so petrified that it had no power to feel at all. (A Quote from William Barclay) The heart petrifies as we repeatedly ignore the pleading Holy Spirit, who yearns for us to join Him in relationship. Ezekiel promised an inner transformation after the Holy Spirit would be sent by Jesus in the new covenant: And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). Even though we receive a new heart, our tendency is to be lured back into our old way of thinking because we live in a fallen world that influences our culture and the people around us. 4. Continue meditating on and memorizing the scripture for this week. Father, I receive the truth about what You say! Remove any hardness in my heart! 12 9
Day Three 1. Take some time to praise the Lord for who He is and enjoy thanking Him for what He has done in your life lately. 2. Write down the three biggest lies you believe on a daily basis. 3. Bring at least three friends or loved ones to the Lord and ask Him to bring them to repentance and faith. Ask Him to show you how you can boldly love them and speak the words of Jesus into their lives. 4. Continue meditating on and memorizing the scripture for this week. Day Three...and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness. But you did not learn Christ in this way,... ~Ephesians 4:19, 20, NAS As the heart petrifies from lack of relationship with God, it turns to other kinds of therapy in order to fill the void. The human heart was built with an innate need to worship. If we don t worship God, we will worship something or someone else - usually that idol is none other than ourselves. Our self worship usually takes the form of pursuing things that feel good. In his writings, Paul habitually points out that when we avoid the church of Jesus, we will pursue the church of sex and stuff (for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness). Basil defines it as a disposition of the soul incapable of bearing the pain of discipline. Barclay tells us that the Christless man does all this in the insatiable lust of his desires. The word is pleonexia, another terrible word, which the Greeks defined as arrogant greediness. It has been defined as the spirit in which a man is always ready to sacrifice his neighbour to his own desires. Pleonexia is the irresistible desire to have what we have no right to possess. In the heathen world, Paul saw three terrible things. He saw people s hearts so petrified that they were not even aware that they were sinning; he saw people so dominated by sin that shame was lost and decency forgotten; he saw people so much at the mercy of their desires that they did not care whose life they injured and whose innocence they destroyed so long as these desires were satisfied. These are exactly the sins of the Christless world today. (A quote from William Barclay) Father, be the only desire of my heart. Help me lay every other desire down before Your throne. 10 11