Rediscovering Your Heart Song Series

DESTINY #5: REDISCOVERING YOUR HEART SONG

(June 2010 – Beausejour Church – Pastor Chris Jordan)

OPENING STORY:

Chippie the parakeet never saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched in his cage. The next he was sucked in, washed up, and blown over. The problems began when Chippie’s owner decided to clean his cage with a vacuum cleaner. She removed the attachment from the end of the hose and stuck it in the cage. Then the phone rang, and she turned to pick it up. She’d barely said "Hello" when sssopp! Chippie got sucked in. The bird owner gasped, dropped the phone, turned off the vacuum, and opened the bag. There was Chippie, still alive, but stunned.

Since the bird was covered with dust and dirt, she grabbed him and raced to the bathroom, turned on the faucet, and held Chippie under the cold running water. Then, realizing that Chippie was soaked and shivering, she did what any compassionate bird owner would do...she reached for the hair dryer and blasted the pet with hot air. Poor Chippie never knew what hit him.

A few days after the trauma, the reporter who had initially written about the event contacted Chippie’s owner to see how the bird was recovering. "Well," she replied, "Chippie doesn’t sing much anymore, he just sits and stares." It’s not hard to see why. Sucked in, washed up, and blown over...that’s enough to steal anybody’s song. (Max Lucado, In the Eye of the Storm).

INTRO TO TOPIC: How’s your heart song? Is there a bounce in your step, or a twinkle in your eyes? Are you full of joy unspeakable and full of glory, experiencing fullness of joy and rivers of pleasure? If not, then today’s message is for you. I want to talk to you about how you can rediscover your heart song. Because God wants you to sing!

TIME FOR A NEW SONG!

Some of you, the only song you’ve been singing is:

“Gloom, despair, and agony on me… deep, dark depression, excessive misery…

If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all… Gloom despair, and agony on me.”

• If that’s your song, it’s time to get set free in Jesus!

REVIEW WEEKS #1-4: Our Destiny Series in Ephesians.

• Chapters 1-3 (Destined to BE). Chapters 4-6 (Destined to DO).

• REVIEW LAST WEEK’S TEXT: “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.” (Ephesians 4:1).

• 4:1-6 = UNITY; 4:7-16 = MATURITY; rest of chapter = PURITY.

OPENING TEXT: “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11).

THE BIG IDEA: God’s destiny for every one of us includes great joy. We will experience this when we throw off the old nature, renew in our minds, and live a new life.

I. THROW OFF YOUR OLD NATURE:

“17 With the Lord’s authority let me say this: Live no longer as the ungodly do, for they are hopelessly confused. 18 Their closed minds are full of darkness; they are far away from the life of God because they have shut their minds and hardened their hearts against him. 19 They don’t care anymore about right and wrong, and they have given themselves over to immoral ways. Their lives are filled with all kinds of impurity and greed. 20 But that isn’t what you were taught when you learned about Christ. 21 Since you have heard all about him and have learned the truth that is in Jesus, 22 throw off your old evil nature and your former way of life, which is rotten through and through, full of lust and deception.” (Eph. 4:17-22, NLT).

• The ungodly have lost their heart song. Confused, dark minds, hard hearts, immoral lives.

• The ‘old nature’ that God wants us to throw off is a set of smelly old grave clothes!

• There’s no life in that life – it is death! Night of the living dead! Zombies walking!

• You don’t want that – a rotten, lust-filled, deceived life. That’s no life at all.

• John 10:10 – the old life leads to death and destruction, the new life = abundant!

II. CHANGE YOUR STINKIN’ THINKIN’!

“Instead, there must be a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes. You must display a new nature because you are a new person, created in God’s likeness -- righteous, holy, and true.” (Eph. 4:23-24).

• QUOTE: “Sow a thought, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny.” But how do we renew our minds and change our thinking?

• “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2). We need to let the Word renew our minds.