2/23 The Reboot Romans 8:28
Four steps to reboot:
1. Accept your failure: There is no such thing as a perfect person, perfect marriage, or perfect family. Romans 3:23
Imperfect people fail.
sinned/sin (amartia): to miss the mark.
2. Receive God’s grace: His glorious grace regenerates what is dead or broken
Ephesians 2:8-9; Romans 5:20
God’s grace in the life of the believer is the desire and the power to do His will.
3. Cooperate with God’s purpose: He wants to turn your dark failures into bright futures. Romans 8:28
God’s offer: “I’ll make all things new!”
Our response: love and live
People want the healing but they’re not willing to discover the cure
4. Place your hope in Him. Romans 15:13
Technology. Can’t live with it; can’t live without it. Do you ever get exasperated at your technology? Sometimes when your computer is not operating effectively or your smart phone is not acting right, what’s the best thing to do? Do a reboot. When my apps aren’t working properly, when my computer is slow, the best thing to do is turn it off and do a reboot. According to one computer magazine, “Rebooting is sometimes necessary to recover from an error, re-initialize drivers, or hardware devices. A reboot may also (be necessary) if the computer or hardware device encounters an error or is overloaded.” Computer Hope
In your life, in your relationships, in your marriage, ever feel like you need a reboot? Maybe you’re here this morning and you need to recover from an error or adjust to overload. Maybe your life or your marriage is all bungled up and not working right. If so, I think this morning is just for you. I think what you need is a reboot.
Everyone needs to reboot from time to time. But what I’ve discovered is that most people don’t know how to do it. On your phone, it’s easy: just hold down the big button and the little button at the same time…on your computer just turn it off…or throw it against the wall!
But how do you reboot in life? In this room are folks who have tasted the pain of divorce; folks who are in seemingly dead or dying marriages, folks who’ve made bad parenting choices, folks who have been immoral or addicted or bitter or all of the above. How do you reboot a life? How do you reboot a relationship, a marriage, a family? There are Four steps to reboot:
1. Accept your failure: There is no such thing as a perfect person, perfect marriage, or perfect family.
I know this seems obvious to most, but we can’t move to the rest of the steps if we don’t get this one strait.
We are imperfect. And Imperfect people fail. Every pastor, every counselor, every wise person knows that until a person honestly assesses and accepts their personal responsibility and failure, they can’t move forward.
The Bible sets this in perfect context: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 That word sinned/sin (amartia): to miss the mark. Before gunpowder was invented, the primary weapon used to combat the enemy from a distance was the bow. (need a bow and arrow)
The best marksman can’t hit a bullseye every time. If the distance is too far, if the wind is too strong, he will miss. Guaranteed. Spiritually speaking, our target is not 50 yards off or a mile off; the target is an infinite distance because the distance between God’s moral perfection and our moral imperfection is infitinty. We can NEVER hit perfection; we will always miss the mark with God.
Not only do we miss the mark with God, we miss the mark with other people. Now if I aim this at my ipad, from back here, what are the chances that I’m going to miss the mark? I’d say it’s an absolute certainty. And what would happen? Somebody out there would get hurt. When we miss the mark, somebody always gets hurt.
You know why your life is empty? You miss the mark. You know why your marriage failed? You missed the mark. You know why your marriage or family is struggling? You miss the mark. Accept that. It’s THE 1st step to a reboot.
2. Receive God’s grace: His glorious grace regenerates what is dead or broken
If you know your Bible, you know Ephesians 2:8-9 “For you are saved by grace through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God’s gift— not from works, so that no one can boast.
We can’t afford to have a narrow, limited view of God’s grace and the salvation it brings. Since we miss the mark, the only way to eternal salvation is by the unmerited favor of God. That’s what grace: unmerited favor.
But listen: God’s grace is not only displayed at the moment of salvation, it is the necessary operative that regenerates and restores all along they way. (need chart) Salvation has a beginning point, that’s when you place your faith and trust in Christ alone and His redemptive work on the cross. Can happen at 8 yrs old or 80 yrs old. Before that each person is heading away from God for eternity, but after that they are heading toward God and WITH God for eternity. Salvation has a beginning point, but it’s not a dot, it’s an arrow. (God/perfection at the end). And all along the way as God is redeeming us and transforming us and regenerating us, He does it through His amazing grace. (write grace above)
So what do you need to overcome your addiction? God’s grace. What do you need to overcome your guilt and shame from past actions? God’s grace. What do you need to fall in love with your spouse again and to see your marriage become alive and vibrant? God’s grace. God’s grace in the life of the believer is the desire and the power to do His will.
You may be thinking, “Pastor, you don’t know what I’ve done. You don’t know how poor a parent I was. Or You don’t know how far I’ve wandered. Or You don’t know how dead our marriage is. Or, you don’t know how many times I keep messing up in the same are and keep asking for His forgiveness.
Let me share another powerful promise from God’s word: “Where sin abounded, grace super-abounded.” Romans 5:20 Isn’t that awesome? As a genuine Christ-follower, no matter how far off I miss the mark, or how many times I miss the mark, His grace is greater than my sin. No matter how dark, not matter how dead, the nature of the grace of God is that it regenerates what is dead or dying…when you accept it.
3. Cooperate with God’s purpose: He wants to turn your dark failures into bright futures.
This is gospel. This is good news. God looks beyond our fault and sees our need. He takes our messiest failures and somehow, miraculously turns them into blessings! It’s cra cra.
The Bible sets this in perfect context. “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God; those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28 A lot of people quote this verse and I think that most of the time they don’t really understand what God is saying.
God’s offer: I’ll make all things new! Isn’t it amazing that the sovereign God makes an offer to us? He doesn’t have to, but He does. And here it is: “I will weave the dark threads of your past with the bright threads of my love and make your life a beautiful tapestry.” Have you ever examined a tapestry? On the front, it may be beautiful. But on the back, not so much. (need a tapestry on stage or pics of front/back) The one who weaves the tapestry takes dark and bright threads; threads of various colors, and weaves it into a beautiful tapestry. “God works all things together for good.”
Story
Our response: love and live
Our problems occur because we don’t love God with all our soul, mind, all our strength. And when God isn’t 1st in our lives, we are guaranteed to miss the mark and mess up our lives. Why is your marriage struggling? Because you love your spouse more than you love God. Or you love yourself more than you love God. Why does your family struggle? Because you love your kids more than you love God. Or you love your home or your vacations or your money and possessions more than you love God. Or you love your comfort more than you love God. We have no greater duty, no greater joy, than to love God most.
And of course, if we don’t love God most, then we don’t live the way we’re supposed to, do we? When we live to please ourselves, we are really missing the mark. The Scripture says God will work all things together “for the good of those who love God; those who are called according to His purpose.”
If you’re a Christ-follower, what has Jesus called you to do? To follow Him. To do as He says. To emulate and imitate Him. This means to align your life with His word, His will, His way.
People come to me all the time wanting me to fix their lives, fix their marriage, fix their kids, fix their finances, fix their hearts. So I’ll try to help. I say, “Ok, you need to find verses in the Bible that address this issue and memorize them; bind them around your heart; I promise you you’ll see God begin to restore this in your life.” Do you think they do that? No. I’ll say, “Also, you need to pray about this, draw a circle around it and pray about it every day, even fast from some meals and call on God’s mighty power to break the power of this in your life.” Do you think they do that? No. I’ll say, “Also, you need to gain wisdom and insight from this book because this author has a real handle on what is dead or broken in your life. Devour this book and the truth of it.” Do you think they do that? No.
People want healing but they’re not willing to discover the cure
(pause) Remember the definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. Maybe that’s you this morning. God’s promise is that He will take WHATEVER has happened in your life, whether by your own stupidity or someone else’s, God will take that and make it work for His glory and your good if you’ll place Him 1st and align your life with Him.
4. Place your hope in Him. Our culture can’t help you. Modern psychology can’t help you. All the entertainment in the world, all the money in the world, all the comfort in the world can’t give you peace, can’t erase your guilt and shame, can’t resurrect your marriage, can’t give you the wisdom and strength to be a single parent. Romans 15:13, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in Him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
(Kym & band come out)
In a moment, Kym Tucker is going to sing a song. I love the words:
Will your grace run out
If I let you down
‘Cause all I know
Is how to run
‘Cause I am a sinner
If its not one thing its another
Caught up in words
Tangled in lies
You are the Savior
And you take brokenness aside
And make it beautiful
Beautiful
So many of us here this morning need a reboot. Your life, your marriage, your family is just not working properly. God specializes in the resurrection business. But you’ve got to hit the reboot button. I’m going to ask you while Kym is singing that you get up from where you are and just come down and pray. If you want someone to pray, we have staff and LG leaders at the 4 corners of the room who will pray with you. If you need to become a Christ-follower and for the 1st time this morning you are surrendering to Christ and inviting Him in to take control of the mess you’ve made, then head to Brian over here or Josh over here. But what an awesome chance to hit the reboot button this morning.
