A New Way To Treat One Another Series

INTRODUCTION

• SLIDE #1

• AUGUST 8, 2011. MOBILE COUNTY, Alabama -- A minister of music at a church in the St. Elmo community Tased the pastor who had just fired him Sunday, touching off a fight and various knife slashing’s, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Mobile County deputies were called just after 1 p.m. to New Welcome Baptist Church in the 8600 block of Boe Road.

• The mayhem erupted when the Rev. Darryl Riley told minister of music Simone Moore that he was no longer needed and gave him a final paycheck, the Sheriff’s Office reported.

• Moore disagreed with the amount of the check and an argument broke out, in which Moore wielded a Taser gun, according to the account given to deputies.

• Several church members became involved, including Agolia Moore, the music minister’s mother, who suffered a stab wound at the hands of a deacon, according to the Sheriff’s Office.

• The deacon was identified as Harvey Hunt. People hurt in the fight were treated at a hospital and released to go home, officials said.

• As we continue with our series TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF, we have been contrasting our old way of life before we were in Christ, with the new life we are called to live.

• Today we will continue with that theme.

• When you look at the world around you, it becomes apparent that folks have problems getting along with one another.

• We see this in the world and unfortunately we have seen it in the church.

• We are seeing the worst in people in our country since the elections because folks have no comprehension of what tolerance is nor do they know how to respect those with opposing views.

• We live in a tumultuous world, and a big reason for is that people are treating one another in ugly ways, in selfish ways.

• Today we contrast the way the world has taught us to treat people with the way one in Christ is called to treat others.

• I think most of us want a better world, that better world will never happen until folks learn how to treat one another the way God calls us.

• It must start with the church; we must be the example if we hope to change the world for the better.

• This world will never be the utopia we would all like it to be, but if we learn how to treat one another, we can all make it a better place to live until we get to see Jesus in our permanent home in Heaven!

• Let’s begin in the book of Ephesians 4:31

• SLIDE #2

• Ephesians 4:31 (HCSB) All bitterness, anger and wrath, shouting and slander must be removed from you, along with all malice.

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

I. The old way of treating one another.

• Throughout this series we have been seeking to help folks understand that when we come to Christ, we are expected to begin our new way of life that we have in Him.

• We are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), and that the fact that we are a new creation will become evident in part by the way we deal with one another.

• In verse 30, Paul shares something with us that connects what we have been examining thus far in this series.

• SLIDE #4

• Ephesians 4:30 (HCSB) And don’t grieve God’s Holy Spirit. You were sealed by Him for the day of redemption.

• When one follows the path laid out in verse 31, one of the results is that we will grieve the Holy Spirit.

• Paul is telling his readers to STOP grieving the Holy Spirit with abuse of their brothers and sisters in Christ.

• An offense against a brother or sister in Christ is an offense against the Holy Spirit!

• As we get back into verse 31, we see a list of actions that express various levels of hostility that lead to actions that destroy human relationships.

• This list is what the old self was programmed to do, it is what we do naturally.

• The issues in verse 31 are ones we are told get rid of.

• When we are told these things MUST be removed, it denotes that these actions are things we are to have nothing to do with and that every trace of these actions must be removed from our lives.

• The list is a nasty one to live by! When we get through this list in verse 31, I will give you what I see as the root reason we foster these attitudes and actions. If we understand why we do them, we can correct the issues.