Good Grief Series

Recovering Redemption

Good Grief (3 of 5)

October 5, 2014 CFBC Chester, IL Dr. Mike Fogerson, Speaker

Introduction:

A Over the last two weeks we’ve heard about the song of redemption.

1 We saw how every bucket we can draw from (ourselves, others, world, religion) comes up empty, can’t fix us . . . only the Good News of Jesus can fix us.

a Today, as we continue to recover redemption we ask ourselves...

aa How saved are we really?

bb Does our sin ever get bigger than God’s redemptive power?

cc If we struggle with sin does that mean we’ve lost the song?

b Important you know these two things:

aa Being from the south/having a grandfather who was a preacher/going to church/American doesn’t make you a Christian. (Off track thinking)

bb Can you be good enough to earn God’s favor? Of course not. Can you be bad enough to lose it? Can being “bad” make a Christian not be a Christian. (Of course not.)

2 Clarification: There’s a reason why Jesus could say that pathway to finding “rest for your souls” comes, not from doing whatever you want, but from hitching your self up to His “yoke” and taking off from there.

a Matthew 11:29-30 (NASB) 29 "Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. 30 "For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."

aa Sin’s yoke/burden is camouflaged up and sooner or later it shows itself and it ain’t light/easy.

bb Sin NEVER does any of us any good. Sin is bad, for everyone, all the time.

b Last Sunday, someone said her testimony was she got saved young, no drugs, addiction, sleeping around, drama.

aa The assumption is that if a testimony didn’t have sex, drugs, and drama then it’s not a “testimony.”

bb The testimonies of addicts/abusers/down and outers cannot outdo the sweet goodness of God that comes shining through your G-rated, nice girl/guy salvation story.

B It was sin in our hearts (that we got from Adam, got us off tune/out of rhythm/ leading us to hell) until Jesus intervened.

1 By the gift of His righteousness, received when we believed on His name, He put a new song in our hearts, cut us a new track, leading to life/joy/blessing of following Him.

a It was faith that led us to repentance, Jesus is who brought about change.

b When most people think of the idea of repentance is in the setting of a hell-fire, street-preacher sermon, “Turn or Burn!”

aa Mark 1:14-15 (NASB) 14 Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, 15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel."

bb This repenting & believing is not a one-time, one-on/one-off thing. (Sure I was saved one time, but repent & believe is so much more.)

cc Repent & believe= rinse & repeat

2 Big part of the puzzle of recovering redemption, that can help us live in freedom and not fear: being a follower of Jesus doesn’t mean we never sin.

a Proof Christianity is NOT perfection . . .it’s when your faith is continually leading you toward repentance, and Jesus is continually bringing about change.

b 1 John 1:8 (NASB) 8 If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.

aa Being a believer means He has given us, by saving us, a heart that desires to turn back to Him. . . when we sin.

bb That’s a big deal & big difference.

c You know an apple tree is an apple tree because there are apples hanging on it: It’s an apple tree from the roots up.

aa Similarly, repentance growing up out of our hearts, when we sin is a leading indicator of genuine belief on the inside.

bb It shows us we’re His from the roots up.

cc Literally, anybody can call themselves Christians but if there is no repentance . . . they’re not.

d Repentance is the living fruit of redemption.

T.S. So, what is “repentance?” (Feeling sorry/grief for our sin? If we’ve proved anything we’re pretty good at faking repentance...we can be sorry and not really sorry all at the same time.) How can we tell if our repentance is real—the kind that truly leads to change?

I Godly Grief vs. Worldly Grief

10 For godly grief produces a repentance not to be regretted and leading to salvation, but worldly grief produces death. (Who doesn’t want to live and “not . . . regret?” Sounds awesome!) -2 Corinthians 7:10 (HCSB)

A Worldly regret makes death, so let me start by identifying four rhythms you can identify that accompany worldly regret.