Sermon Central
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Keys To A Renewed Mind And Transformed Life! Part 2.
Contributed by Roger Spackman on Jan 3, 2007 (message contributor)
Summary: Getting to the HEART of our personality and character, and how God REALLY transforms and sanctifies us. Most sermons just ’pick at the fruit’ - this one goes to the heart and foundations!
Slide # 1
Keys for a transformed life and a renewed mind!
Part 2 of 2
‘You’d better get a coffee – you might need it!’
Going to the heart of it!
Credit given to David Riddell – Living Wisdom – Friend, Mentor and Supervisor
To listen, read or download this and over 200 other messages. Te Atatu Baptist Church.com
Today is part two of last weeks message that was titled:
Lifting the band-aid!
That message was based in Romans 12:2
Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
I brought this message in response to the many requests I had from people about how to actually heal the hurts, break the habits, release the pain and remove the shrapnel from our hearts our lives.
Several weeks ago we looked at the processes God uses to bring about our sanctification – which means ‘transforming us into the image of Christ’.
We discovered that the tools God uses to change our character, our heart – are the very things most Christians try to avoid or deny:
Slide # 2
• Afflictions
• Hard times
• Troubles
• Conflicts
• Hurts
The number one way God changes our hearts and transforms the darkness of our character, is when we are prepared and brave enough – to admit our faults, hurts, challenges and character flaws.
And He uses these situations to bring them to the surface!
Without going into much detail, let me summarize last week’s Bible study by looking at the bullet points we finished with.
Slide # 3
• God desires to transform the dark areas of our lives.
• It is natural for us to hide from our own pain, and blame others for it - however, healing comes as we accept our responsibility to trace, face and replace the faulty structures and habits in our lives.
• Many new Christians simply ‘adjust’ their dysfunctions to appear more ‘Christian’! However, the Christian life is the transformed life!
Along these lines we looked at the sad reality that many Christians follow other Christians who are highly driven and effective – not realizing that many times this ‘drive’ is motivated out of an unhealed hurt or trauma.
WARNING! NEVER follow a person or ministry leader just because they are gifted or effective!
God’s Word places CHARACTER above GIFTEDNESS!
Look at the CHARACTER of the leader, their marriage, children, attitudes and personality – CHARACTER above GIFTEDNESS!
Slide # 4
• It is our minds – our belief structures, our mindsets and assumptions that must be renewed and changed.
• True Christian victory is not an absence of pain, but because of it, and despite it.
• Your desire to change must be greater than the comfort to stay the same.
• Or – the pain caused by staying the same must be so great that it is less than the pain needed to change! (I.e. It gets you into trouble).
Slide # 5
• God will NEVER override free-will. (It’s YOUR choice!)
• Children are wet cement – you owe it to yourself and your descendants to break the generational sin.
• Prayer for ourselves and others can often break a resistant heart or attitude.
• A ‘break-down’ is a breaking of the cement that shaped our personality and belief structures – it is a good thing! It enables re-building on the correct structures of God’s Word.
Slide # 6
• Examine your foundations – search out your hidden faults – get rid of the log!
• God wants you to be set free!
• Whilst prayer is absolutely vital – Jesus said it is the TRUTH that shall set you free – the renewing of our minds!
Slide # 7
If there is ONE thing I want you to know today, is that it is God’s desire for you to experience healing, freedom and deliverance this morning!
It is God’s desire that you be ‘set free’!
And those whom Christ sets free – are free indeed!
Praise God!
Slide # 8
Question: Do you believe that – do you really believe that???
To be honest, I’ve discovered that many people say they do, but in reality – it’s just too darn hard or they simply don’t know where to start.
I’ve also discovered – that many people struggle with the concepts we are going to learn today.
For many years, as a young man, I couldn’t read, listen or talk about these things – I had an aversion to them – they made me depressed and even angry.
Like many others who reject these concepts and principles – I did so – because I was in great need of them.
Some people even reject them because of a bad experience with a counselor or pastor,
