February 12, 2023 | Basic Christian Living Part 1

New Life Saginaw

February 12, 2023 | Basic Christian Living Part 1

February 12, 2023 • Pastor Dan Dickenson

Romans 12:1-2 encourages us to put our everyday lives (see the Message) before God and not be like the culture around us. Our everyday lives should be an offering and sacrifice to God. Don’t hold anything back from Him; otherwise there will be problems. Open up your soul and give it to God.

What is God’s will? Read the Word to find out and then apply it. As a review from last week’s sermon, we should get an MRI– M: Memorize the Word, R: Read the Word, I: have our identity in Christ.

The main passage of the sermon is from I Cor. 6:1-11. The Apostle (the missionary or church planter to the city of Corinth) Paul is speaking to the Corinthian Christians about what they once WERE (v.11) but are not now. Why is Paul talking about this in the church? They needed (and we need) to repent. He taught these new believers for 18 months (Acts 18:9-11) and knew them well. There were “messy” people in the church as there are in every church. New believers–and old ones–all need to be cleaned up spiritually.

Pastor Ken briefly shared his own testimony about being a new Christian and the messes that were exposed in his life when he came to Jesus. Repentance (turning away from his sin) was an integral part of that. What is your mess to message story? Are you ready to share it with others?

When we have a new identity in Christ, we must not go back to “shameful” things (I Cor. 6:5, Pr. 26:11). We must remember WHO we are and WHOSE we are. (See the bookmark in the pews called “Who I Am in Christ.”) The Corinthians were Paul’s spiritual children (I Cor. 4:14-15), and as a father, he lovingly corrected them (I Cor. 16:24). Our current culture emphasizes acceptance instead of correction, while the Church often stresses correction over acceptance. Neither is correct. Acceptance WITH correction is God’s way.

Are you born again? Then you are a NEW creation– a SAINT. We are no longer sinners who sin but saints who sin sometimes. Read and meditate on Ephesians chapter 1 for a year to get it in your spirit! As saints, we are able to make decisions. The Church has done some things recently that have created scandal and shame. We must make tough decisions at times to bring correction. (I Cor. 6:4, 7-8). Our identity must be rooted in GOD and not US.

What about you? Are you easily offended? Do you have no empathy for others? These are signs that you are operating in the flesh, not the Spirit. Phil 2:2-3 shows how our identity in Christ should be demonstrated–with encouragement, love, tenderness, compassion, and considering others as better than ourselves (v.2-3). The church is the family of God. Are you willing to serve, or are you easily offended? Be humble and work like Christ (v. 4-5).

As followers of Christ who have new identities as saints, we cannot continue to live a life of sin (I Cor. 6:9-10). If we are, we must ask, “Am I really saved?” Notice I Cor. 6:11 says, “And such WERE some of you.” We don’t have to be the same person. Transformation happens in Christ. (Titus 3:5-6, Col 1:13-14). When our identity is in Christ, we experience healing, wholeness, and are able to follow God. God LOVES us so much!

Are you a saint or a sinner? What are you working out in your life? What is God working in you? TAKE ACTION! Confess your sins, repent, and receive God’s forgiveness.

March 26, 2023 | Basic Christian Living Part 6

March 26, 2023 • Pastor Ken Cline

When you hear the word “vine,” what comes to mind? For me it’s usually a vineyard with long runs of grapevines - or sometimes Tarzan swinging through the jungle – but for our purposes, let’s stick with the grapevines. The grapevine comes out of the ground and can stretch upwards of 100 feet. Then all along its length, canes (or branches) emerge and produce flowers and eventually fruit. Amazingly, the main vine provides the nutrients of the earth to its entire length of branches and shoots, flowers and fruits! In today’s final message of the series, Pastor Ken digs into John chapter 15, verses 1 – 17 where we find that just like the branches of the grapevine get their nutrients from the vine, our source of life comes from God – but only if we stay connected to him. In the verses above, Jesus uses the vine and branches analogy to show us that without him, we can do nothing. If God is the vine and we are the branches, what good are we if we don’t remain in the vine? Can a branch cut off from the vine grow or produce fruit, of course not. How then should we expect to grow in our walk with the Lord or produce spiritual fruit if we don’t remain in his will, in his word, and under his watch? Listen in as Pastor Ken teaches us about God, the master gardener. He chose you. He planted you. And it brings him joy to see you grow.

March 19, 2023 | Basic Christian Living Part 5

March 19, 2023 • Pastor Ken Cline

Love is basic to the Christian life. What is love? The Apostle of Love is John. 1 Jn 4:7-8 says love comes from God. We don’t define love; God does. God gets to decide, and we must submit to His will. Agree and obey, or disagree and disobey. 1 Jn 4:9 – God sent His one and only Son. Atoning sacrifice = a stand in for us. The Father, in His passion, sent the Son, and the Son willingly obeyed in His love for the Father and us. “Love Hurts” was a song by the group Nazareth. It’s true; it does hurt. Love requires sacrifice and puts others first. If we haven’t sacrificed, it’s not love. Another group, Foreigner, said in the lyrics of one of their popular songs: “I want to know what love is.” Lou (the writer of the song) is now a Christian and knows what love is: I Jn. 3:16-17. If love lives in us, we will sacrifice for others. Love and truth go together (v. 18). Love isn’t love; God is love. He gets to define it. We don’t know what love is without Jesus. It is defined by “God’s character revealed in His commands and manifested personally by Jesus.” In the book of John, the author refers to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Maybe he didn’t start out being so loving and lovable. James and John were very competitive early on. Jesus called them “sons of thunder.” In Luke 9:54, they asked if they should call down fire to consume their enemies. Later, they learned love. Are we forgetting the love God gave us and letting our love grow cold? It makes it very difficult to love others if we aren’t getting that love from God. Where are you as far as loving your family, co-workers, and others? Rev. 1:9-18, when John was in prison at the island of Patmos, he had a vision of the glorified Jesus and what he said to the early churches. Acts 20:29-, Paul warns of the danger to come, both outside and inside the Church. Rev. 2:1f: Ephesus Church, had forsaken its first love. Jesus walked among the church there as He does in our church today through His Spirit. He will never leave or forsake us! Rev. 2:2, He knows our deeds and hard work (to the point of exhaustion), but we must not compromise to the ways of the world. We must be gallant and courageous not to say “yes” to things. It will be a challenge to us to say no to what the world says is good that is ungodly. We will be in the minority. The Ephesians fought, but they were tired and grew weary. When we hear “Love is love,” “this is my truth,” and other sayings of today, we must say no. Have you forgotten why you are here? To proclaim the Gospel of Jesus! We must stand on the truth and have the love of God in our hearts. God must be our first love. What is occupying your mind, money, time? It must be about a relationship with God and NOT rules. Truth without love is not good. We must proclaim God’s Word the way it is; we are not God. Let’s not fall in love with causes. Let’s fall in love with Jesus. If something else is before God, we must repent. It must be about the LOVE of Jesus. Rev. 2:5: The Ephesians fell and needed to repent. We must also recognize when our love has grown cold. Do we still have that passion and enthusiasm for Christ? Are you desperate for God? We need to get back to our first love. Ps. 42:1-2 says his soul pants for God. He is passionate for us; we need to be passionate for Him. God sings over us. Rev. 2:7 says we must hear what God says to us. Challenge: If you have left your first love, you need to repent and do what you did at first.

March 12, 2023 | Basic Christian Living Part 4

March 12, 2023 • Pastor Ken Cline

Jesus came to give us abundant life—not only in eternity, but during our earthly lives as well. To enjoy this life of blessing He promises, we must follow His ways. Scripture teaches that if we lack wisdom, we are to ask God. Then when we hear from Him, we are to obey what He says. Both secular studies and Christian researchers have proven that those who live according to the principles in God’s Word have better health, better marriages, and greater levels of happiness than those who choose other paths. How do we hear from God? He’s given us three ways. God speaks to us through the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and the People of God—the three-legged stool of basic Christian living. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us that the Word of God is profitable to Christians for teaching us what God wants us to know, for reproving us when we go the wrong way, for correcting us when we need to make a change, and for training in righteousness so we know what pleases God. For those times that we need to make a decision that isn’t clearly defined in God’s Word, He has given us the Spirit to guide us through prayer. He has also given us pastors and teachers who are filled with the Spirit who will pray with you and give godly advice when needed. It can be easy to confuse your feelings and desires with the voice of God, so be sure to filter every decision through the principles of Scripture. God will never tell you to do something that violates a biblical principle. With this safeguard in place, and these resources at your disposal, God has made a way for you to make good decisions that lead to blessing in your Christian life.