Life As You Have Always Wanted Series

LIFE AS YOU HAVE ALWAYS WANTED

Ephesians 1:15-23

S: Resurrection Power

Th: Seeing the Unseen Christ: How His Presence

Transforms Life.

Pr: WE CAN LIVE GOD’S GIFT OF LIFE AT ITS BEST.

?: How?

KW: Discoveries

TS: We will find in Ephesians 1:15-23 three discoveries that help us to live life at its best.

The _____ discovery that helps us to live life at its best is the…

I. PERSON OF GOD (15-17)

II. PROMISE OF GOD (18)

III. POWER OF GOD (19-23)

RMBC 4/15/01 AM

INTRODUCTION:

ILL Notebook: Life (Facts of Life—selected)

There are certain facts of life to which one must pay attention to. For example…

1. If at first you don’t succeed, skydiving is not for you.

2. Psychiatrists say that 1 of 4 people are mentally ill. Check 3 friends. If they’re OK, you’re it.

3. It has recently been discovered that research causes cancer in rats.

4. Always remember to pillage BEFORE you burn.

5. It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others.

Have you ever wondered…

1. Why is there so much skepticism about life?

(Yes, I spelled there wrong—the spellchecker’s fault…)

After reading a list like that you may think the skepticism is warranted.

But, as a pastor, as I have watched people be born and grow and die, I have come to the conclusion that a lot of people don’t know how to live.

There is a bumper sticker that says, “He who has the most toys at the end, wins.”

Do they?

Do they really?

Is that life at its best?

DRAMA: “Behind the Scenes”

This drama, this morning has challenged us about life.

What is life really about?

Is it about fun and pleasure?

Or is it about pretend that everything is okay and perfect?

What about your life?

2. What do people think about the life you live?

Is it real, or is it something pretend?

TRANSITION:

1. Today is Day 50 of our 50-day adventure called, Seeing the Unseen Christ: How His Presence Transforms Life.

It has been our desire during this adventure to understand the difference our lives will have when we are aware of Christ’s Presence.

When we see the unseen Christ, we…

1.1 Worship with genuine enthusiasm.

To worship means to attribute worth, so when we realize that Jesus is here, we sing songs of praise with great feeling.

After all, we are singing them to Someone!

You know, if Jesus were to walk down here, many of us would bow, we might even stretch out prostrate, the body language of worship.

We would be filled with awe—in the fullest sense of the word.

We would also…

1.2 Lavish His love on one another.

Our Lord is incredibly loving, and if He was here, He would tell us how important it is to love each other.

And He would point to His own example, the demonstration of His own life.

His example would cause us to find a whole new dimension of love, that is, we would want to demonstrate love to others in a way that Christ received the credit.

Next, we would…

1.3 Embrace righteousness and renounce evil.

If Jesus were here, he would show us a holiness, a wholeness, a wholesomeness that we would want to emulate.

This means our shortcomings would come clearly into focus for what they were.

We would become gravely concerned about our own self-destructive patterns for we would see our sins for what they were, an offense to God.

And as a result, tears would flow freely as we recognized the awfulness of our sin.

Then we would…

1.4 Eagerly serve Christ.

We would be grateful for the opportunity.

Because He always acts with righteousness and truth, we would be glad to take any assignment.

Along with that we would want to do what He wants.

This means we would…

1.5 Surrender to the truth of God’s Word.

In the realization that His yoke is easy and His burden light, we would desire to be obedient, surrendering to His authority and demands.

We would know that doing His bidding is a wise response.

Being aware of His Presence also means we would…

1.6 Experience the privilege of authentic prayer.

We can talk to Him about our needs and we can take the concerns of loved ones to Him.

We know that He positively affects our lives.

So, in the process, we learn to make requests that are fitting His attention.

Finally, we…

1.7 Delight in introducing Him to others.

If during the last seven weeks, Jesus had been physically present, I believe you would have invited someone by now.

You would have them meet this unique person whose Presence has transformed your life.

Well, that all being said, let us understand on this last day of the adventure the difference the Presence of Jesus makes in our midst.