Extreme Makeover: Christ Edition Series

INTRODUCTION

„X There are a lot of popular televisions shows we watch. There is the whole CSI genre, Miami, NY, Navy, Cold Case, Auburn. We have the ¡§who wants to marry me¡¨ shows. One of the genres that seems to be doing quite well is the makeover shows.

„X These are the shows in which they take a person and make them a ¡§new¡¨ person. In some of the shows they take a house or a car and renovate it. The television is full of these types of shows. Ambush Makeover, What not to Wear, Trading Spaces, Extreme Makeover, The Swain, 10 Years younger, Rides, Monster House, and my favorite, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.

„X In Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, the crew usually goes to a family who is fallen on very hard times, and they come in and completely tear down and rebuild their home in something like seven days. When it is all said and done, the home is beautifully decorated and suited to the special needs of the home owner.

„X I think the attraction of these shows is that we want to see someone be able to better themselves and we like to see a person who has not had too many good breaks receive a break for once.

„X Today the title to the message is ¡§Extreme Makeover: Christ Edition.¡¨ SLIDE #1

„X In the makeover shows, there is usually some expert or group of experts who all work together to make something better.

„X God looked down and knew it was time for an extreme makeover and so He sent the expert, Jesus to cause some things to change.

„X READ 1 Peter 2:3-10

„X SLIDE #2

SERMON

I. GOD GAVE WORSHIP AN EXTREME MAKEOVER.

„X The Old Testament worship was producing an outward faith. God did not intend for it to be this way, but that is what was happening. Worship had a lot of external trappings, from the temple, to the items in the temple to the 10 Commandments which were turned into several hundred by the well-meaning religious leaders of the time.

„X Worship became about a system of rule keeping instead of relationship. God needed to give worship an extreme makeover and He did so through Jesus. SLIDE #3

God gave worship a new cornerstone. (6)

„X The cornerstone was the stone in which the rest of the building was started from. It was the first stone laid. If the cornerstone was not square, the building would not be square either. The positioning of the cornerstone determined the direction of the building would be erected along with where it would be built. The size of the stone could affect the size of the building.

„X Jesus is said to be that stone, but it was a stone that the builders rejected. The word in verse four denotes Jesus as being refused as unsuitable, that He was tested and rejected as though He lacked qualifications to be the cornerstone.

„X Men think one thing about Jesus while God thinks about Jesus in a totally different way!

„X Verse seven tells us that the builders rejected Jesus. A builder would look at many stones before choosing one to be the cornerstone. According to the religious leaders, they looked at Jesus and determined that He did not meet their specifications for a Messiah, so they rejected Him. They wanted a political Messiah who would lead them out of the bondage to the Romans.

„X God said Jesus would be the new cornerstone on which our faith and worship would be built upon!

„X This leads us to the next part of the extreme makeover of worship:

SLIDE #3 CLICK

God built a new residence for worship. (5)

„X The old way of worship featured the Temple. The Temple was the central part of worship. It started with the Tabernacle and then went to the Temple.

„X Notice in verse 5 we are told that we come to Jesus as living stones that are being built up as a spiritual house. The word for house means house, not a temple. Worship does not reside in the building, the building is not the church, each one who is a Christian is a part of the church, we are the church. The building is just where we meet.

„X There are too many folks who are trying to make worship about the building, it is not, it is about the worshipper. SLIDE # 4 This is why Jesus tells us in Matthew 18:20 ¡§For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.¡¨

„X Notice there is no mention of location? Where ever two or more meet.

„X This new residence allows us to be able to have an internal form of worship instead of one based on the trappings. If we have to have trappings to worship, we need to work on the relationship.