A Changer Of Lives
Series – JESUS – Part 2 Pastor Chuck Bernal – 03-01-15
God loves you unconditionally – just as you are. But He loves you too much to let you stay there. That’s why He wants to change your life. He wants to transform you to make you more like Jesus. (Rick Warren) W HENEVER ANYONE MEETS JESUS, THEY ARE NEVER THE SAME AGAIN - CHANGING LIVES IS HIS BUSINESS! When the Council saw the boldness of Peter and John and could see that they were obviously uneducated non-professionals, they were amazed and realized what being with Jesus had done for them! (Acts 4:13 – LB) The same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world and changing lives everywhere, just as it changed yours that very first day you heard it and understood about God’s great kindness to sinners. (Colossians 1:6 – LB)
CASE STUDY 1: A Fearful _____________________________________ (John 3:1-21) Afterwards Joseph of Arimathea, who had been a secret disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jewish leaders, boldly asked Pilate for permission to take Jesus’ body down; and Pilate told him to go ahead. So he came and took it away. Nicodemus, the man who had come to Jesus at night, came too, bringing a hundred pounds of embalming ointment made from myrrh and aloes. Together they wrapped Jesus’ body in a long linen cloth saturated with the spices, as is the Jewish custom of burial. (John 19:38-40 – LB)
CASE STUDY 2: A W ayward ___________________________________ (John 4:4-42) Then the woman left her waterpot and ran back to the village and told everyone, “Come and meet a man who told me everything I ever did! Can this be the Messiah?” So the people came streaming from the village to see him . . . Many from the Samaritan village believed he was the Messiah because of the woman’s report: “He told me everything I ever did!” When they came out to see him at the well, they begged him to stay at their village; and he did, for two days, long enough for many of them to believe in him after hearing him. Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe because we have heard him ourselves, not just because of what you told us. He is indeed the Savior of the world.” (John 4:28-30, 39-42 – LB)
CASE STUDY 3: A Tough ________ ___________________________ (Luke 19:1-10) Zacchaeus hurriedly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy. But the crowds were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled. Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “Sir, from now on I will give half my wealth to the poor, and if I find I have overcharged anyone on his taxes, I will penalize myself by giving him back four times as much! Jesus told him, “This shows that salvation has come to this home today. This man was one of the lost sons of Abraham, and I, the Messiah, have come to search for and to save such souls as his.” (Luke 19:6-10 – LB)
CASE STUDY 4: A Pious ________________________ (Acts 9:1-30) Paul stayed with the believers for a few days and went at once to the synagogue to tell everyone there the Good News about Jesus—that he is indeed the Son of God! All who heard him were amazed. “Isn’t this the same man who persecuted Jesus’ followers so bitterly in Jerusalem?” they asked . . . Paul became more and more fervent in his preaching, and the Damascus Jews couldn’t withstand his proofs that Jesus was indeed the Christ. (Acts 9:19-22 - LB)
HOW JESUS CHANGES OUR LIVES TO DAY He changes us _____________________________________________ So all of us can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are being changed into his glorious image. (2 Corinthians 3:18 – NLT)
He changes us _____________________________________________ Fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. (Romans 12:2 – Msg)
He changes us _____________________________________________ My message was that they should change their hearts and lives and turn to God, and that they should demonstrate this change in their behavior. (Acts 26:20 – CEB)
He changes us _____________________________________________ I am confident that the Creator, who has begun such a great work among you, will not stop in mid-design but will keep changing you until the day Jesus returns to redeem the world. (Philippians 1:6 – The Voice)
CASE STUDY 1: A Fearful Pharisee (John 3:1-21) CASE STUDY 2: A W ayward W om an (John 4:4-42) CASE STUDY 3: A Tough Tax Collector (Luke 19:1-10) CASE STUDY 4: A Pious Persecutor (Acts 9:1-30) HOW JESUS CHANGES OUR LIVES TODAY He changes us progressively He changes us inwardly He changes us outwardly He changes us com pletely