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Living Hope SDA Church

Christian Martin

Empowering the Church for Impact

You know, I'm getting reports from our ministry team at Haymarket Days, and they're saying that the booth, the Living Hope booth, is a very active place.

There's children coming, and they're painting greeting cards that will be shared with the nursing home on behalf of the Living Hope Church and the community.

We have some of our team members praying with people, praying right there in the heart of Haymarket Days.

God is doing something good, and we have a presence there for the glory of God.

And again, you're invited to come and be a part of what's happening this afternoon at any time.

Just go Booth 179 and God will have a place there, I'm sure, to use you to be a blessing.

You know, we, Last Sabbath, we started an emphasis on mission, on ministry.

And last Sabbath, we were reminded of the power of 1, the power of 1.

1 who is willing to say, here I am, sent me.

I choose to humble myself so that the Holy Spirit can be in full control of my life.

And God can use 1 to accomplish great and mighty things.

And as we continue this series that we'll carry on next week as well, today we want to focus on the fact that we have a problem.

You see, lives transformed by Christ scare some people.

So what is God's solution to attractively welcome people to Him?

If in fact, transformed lives are a scary sight for our people, in our culture, in our society, in our world.

Today, we continue with a theme, Empowering the Church for Impact.

Father in heaven, we just wanna pause as we acknowledge you, recognizing that you are the God who can use just 1 willing vessel to do great and mighty things.

Yet we do find ourselves in a very difficult territory.

And today Lord, we ask that you would give us inspiration and encouragement.

As we know, we're going to face a world that hated you, and therefore will hate the followers of Christ.

So, Lord, speak to our hearts and we thank you in Jesus name amen.

Carrie a woman who had lived a life marked by pain, addiction, and despair.

And she knew that her choices had left her in what felt like darkness.

She had no idea where she was going in life.

She had no, no idea where her life was headed to.

But 1 day, Carrie heard a message of God's grace and love And she decided to open her heart to Christ, allowing Christ to have a place in her life where he can reign and shine through.

And she felt the support and the love and the acceptance of her church family.

She was loved right into the family and the transformation began.

Truly old things had passed away and Today she's actively involved in ministry.

She can't help but to find joy in serving God.

Her old friends, the friends that she had BC, before Christ, they're stunned.

Until this very day, they're stunned at how much she has changed.

Well, that's because any person of any age, man, woman, or child, when they're willing to put into practice biblical principles, the outcome of those choices and what that will do in your life will stand in stark contrast to a worldly lifestyle.

The spirit and the lifestyle of a world that's under the sway of the enemy is in sharp contrast to the life that is now in Christ.

And Paul, the Apostle Paul, who wrote several books in the Bible and the New Testament, wrote about the difference in Romans chapter 12.

I'm going to Take you to Romans chapter 12.

Romans chapter 12 and let's look at verses 1 and 2.

Paul is writing here and he says, I beseech you therefore brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Verse 2, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

You know the New Living Translation puts it this way, don't copy the behavior and customs of this world.

The Good News Translation Puts it this way, do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world.

All right, so, so, and there's many other verses, many other verses that we can look at that contrast the behavior and the, and the thinking and the attitudes and even the appearance of 1 who is in Christ and the world and Paul among others points out that difference, that sharp difference.

And the prophet Isaiah, now in the Old Testament, he warns us, of course, in the last days, in the last days, the distinction of the 2 is going to become more and more distinct.

It's going to be more and more black and white, more obvious, no questions asked.

In fact, he goes as far as to say this in Isaiah chapter 5 verse 20, then the last days good will be called evil and evil will be called good.

So you can only imagine that as we near the coming of Christ, we're gonna very clearly see the 2 sides.

You can just go to any news website and there you have it.

It's literally every day there's a story that reminds us that We are in a world where, yes, good is called evil and evil is called good.

Actions and behaviors that the Bible clearly identifies as sinful are sometimes portrayed as virtuous and celebrated in today's media and society.

And when we do good, the world makes us feel out of place.

Tell me if you have not already experienced this already, that when changes take place, the outside observers, we're talking about those that are watching.

Empowering the Church for Impact

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