What Not To Wear Series

INTRODUCTION

• SLIDE #1

• How many of you watch the self-improvement shows on TV?

• There is an appeal to those shows for many folks. Some if the appeal is the desire to make some changes in our own lives.

• Some of the appeal is seeing others being able to make the changes needed.

• There is a show called What Not To Wear on TLC. It is interesting because friends and family rat out a loved one as one who has no style and then the show secretly films the offender.

• Then the offender is confronted by the hosts of the show with the change to change what they wear and are given a $5000 pre-paid Visa Card with which to get a new wardrobe.

• I am not fashion expert, but really, you should see some folks sense of style. Almost always it is a lady who needs to make a change. I guess us men have an innate sense of style. 

• I bet if I interviewed each of you here today, you would all have something you would like to change about yourself.

• I would like to lose 20-40 pounds myself.

• Let us consider our life with Christ for a moment.

• How many of us are totally happy with where we are in our relationship with Jesus?

• When we give our lives to Christ, we hear about this new life God wants us to have in Christ, but it does not seem to be happening the way we think it should be.

• Do you realize that in order for you to be able to change something about yourself, you have to actually change some things in your life!

• For instance, if I want to lose weight, I have to change my eating habits, my exercise habits, along with my attitudes concerning food.

• Without changing these areas of my life, the weight will not come off. There is really no miracle cure that will cause me to change my weight without my changing some things in my life.

• It seems petty to have a loved one turn you into the What Not To Wear police, but in truth what we wear can have an effect on our life. What we wear can help us or hinder us.

• For one to grow in Christ we need to realize there are some things we ought not to wear in a figurative sense.

• We all need to rid ourselves of some or our entire current wardrobe so that we can really transform into the image of Christ.

• Let’s begin by looking at Colossians 3:5-7

• SLIDE #2

• Colossians 3:5–7 (ESV) 5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them.

• SLIDE #3

SERMON

I. We need to closely examine what is in our closet.

• One of the most difficult things for people on the show to do it is to get rid of the old wardrobe.

• Pretty much all the ladies think they rock the house with their snake skin tights and pink boots.

• They need a wakeup call, the wakeup call on the show is the 360 degree mirror, that mirror is the truth teller. It helps make the fashion offender realize they need to look at changing what they wear.

• After the mirror the hosts of the show go through the closet of the fashion offender and throw almost everything in the trash can.

• Well, Paul gives us a list of items we need to take out of our closet and throw in the trash.

• We need to throw out the old clothing that no longer fit.

• We need to realize we are dead to our old life. We have outgrown many of the items in our closet.

• In verse five we are told we are to consider the members of our earthly body as dead to the things listed for us.

• We are to literally “put to death” these things. To consider dead means we are to hold these items in check, to restrain them. Left unrestrained, they will lead us in the wrong direction.

• If you casually look at verse three, we are told we have died with Christ, but here we are told consider our members of our earthly body as dead.

• We have died with Christ, BUT we still live in a fallen world and only we through the power of the Holy Spirit can be the one the keeps oneself in check.