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“SPIRITUAL HEALTH: HOW TO GET CLOSER TO GOD”50 Days of TransformationSeptember 28, 2014Cornerstone Community ChurchIt was one of the worst children’s shows ever to grace American television, and yet this last May Lionsgate signed a deal to bring it back to the big screen sometime next year – the “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.” It debuted in 1993, and some version of the Power Rangers has been on children’s television pretty much ever since. The plot, if you can call it that, is this – five high schoolers in the fictional California community of Angel Grove are selected by a being named Zordon to save the world from the evil plans of the aptly named Rita Repulsa. And to help them accomplish their task, Zordon enables the five teens to transform themselves as needed into the Power Rangers, complete with superhuman abilities. And if you ever watched the show, you remember the crew’s signature battle cry: “It’s morphin time!” And guess what? That’s what time it is for you and me – it’s morphin time. It’s time for us to experience transformation; it’s time for us to grow in ways we’ve never grown before. Here’s our theme verse for this series, a verse we’ll all be memorizing: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Romans 12:2) That word “transformed” is the English translation of the Greek word “metamorpho,” from which we get the word metamorphosis. In other words, the Bible literally commands us to “morph.” And that’s what we will be learning how to do in the course of these next 50 days – to be transformed. Starting today, starting now … it’s morphin time.Last week we kicked off this series by listening to Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church talk to us about setting personal goals. He explained to us that we’re either going to live by default or by design, that we’re either going to choose our life’s path for ourselves or we’re just going to drift along and let other people choose our path for us. And today we’re going to get started. We’re going to begin to chart a new course for our lives, to set sail for new shores – spiritually, physically, intellectually, emotionally, relationally, financially and vocationally. And this is something that is only going to work if we do it together. As Pastor Rick puts it, “it takes a team to achieve a dream.” That’s why we encourage everyone to be part of a small group for this series. You need the encouragement and the accountability of being part of a team. Lasting, significant transformation is not a “me” thing; it’s a “we” thing. So please, for your sake and for the sake of everyone who is part of our Cornerstone family, I encourage you for this series to become part of a small group.Now the first question that likely comes to your mind when I start talking about transformation is this: “Why would I want to be transformed?” Think about it – you’ve been the way you are for quite some time now, and for the most part things are working out OK for you. Why would you want to change? Most of us don’t much like change. We like our routines. We’re happy with the way things are. For the most part we don’t even have to think about what we’re going to do when we get up in the morning; we’re going to do what we did the day before and the day before that and the day before that. And we’re fine with that. It takes less effort to keep doing what we’ve always done, to keep living the way we’ve always lived. Why in the world would we want to make things harder by changing?Here’s kind of a silly example, but I happen to know this is going to hit home for some of us. Did you know there are some people who eat the same thing for lunch every day? They don’t just go to the same restaurant; they order the exact same thing from the same restaurant every day. Now I don’t eat the same thing every day, but when I do go to a restaurant I always order the same thing. At Arby’s it’s the No. 2. At Taco Bell it’s the No. 3 Meal Deal. At Round Table it’s always pepperoni. At Baskin Robbins it’s always chocolate chip. And if you were to tell those of us who do this, “Why don’t you try something different?” we would look at you like you’d lost your mind! Think about it – I know I like the No. 2 at Arby’s. Why would I go to my favorite restaurant and try something different and take the chance that I don’t like it, when I could have had something I know I’d like? That’s crazy!But here’s another way of looking at it. This is something I heard Pastor Rick say recently. He said, “As an infant all I wanted to eat was strained spinach. I would cry if my parents gave me anything else. Then one day they forced me to eat spaghettio’s, and I loved them so much I wouldn’t eat anything else but that. Then I was introduced to In and Out Burger, and now I could eat those burgers every day and be happy.” And here is Rick’s point – wouldn’t you like to know if there was something out there that’s better than what you’re experiencing now? We don’t want to change because we’re content to live the way we’ve always lived. Why try eating anywhere else? Why try living any other way? But what if there’s actually a better way to live that we’ve never experienced?The Bible says that there is a better way to live, that our lives can be far more fulfilling and far more meaningful that we’ve become used to. The Bible tells us that God wants more for us than we want for ourselves, that God wants us to experience more joy and more love than we’re experiencing right now. In the words of C.S. Lewis, our problem is not that we want too much; our problem is that we are “far too easily pleased.” So in order for us to experience transformation, here’s where we need to start – we need to experience what some Christian authors call “holy discontent.” Did you ever watch “Popeye” as a kid? A bit of a silly cartoon. I was a pretty skinny kid and I was quite jealous of Popeye’s muscles, but I have to tell you – if you have to eat spinach to get muscles, then I am quite content to be scrawny. But Popeye had a particular line that always resonated with me. Something bad would happen in the episode; usually someone stole his girl – Olive Oil – away from him. And while Popeye just went along with things for a while, eventually he would reach his breaking point. Do you remember what he would say when that happened? The grammar was particularly poor, but the sentiment was undeniable. Popeye would pull himself up as tall as he could and utter these moving words: “That’s all I can stands; I can’t stands no more.” If we’re going to experience significant, lasting transformation, that’s the place we need to get to. We need to reach the point where we look at where we are in life and we say, “That’s all I can stands; I can’t stands no more.” That’s happened to you before, hasn’t it? You got fed up with being out of shape. You looked at yourself in the mirror and you said, “That’s all I can stands; I can’t stands no more.” And the next day you started some new habits. You went to the gym. You stopped ordering the No. 2 at Arby’s. You bought a scale. You got a workout partner. Or maybe it wasn’t your body that was the issue. Maybe it was your job. You’d been unhappy for a while, but one day something happened and that was it – that’s all you could stands; you couldn’t stands no more. So you made a change. You probably didn’t quit your job, but you started looking around, you started to make some plans, you started to dream again of what you might want to do. Did that ever happen to you spiritually? Did you ever get fed up with your spiritual life? Maybe not. But maybe that’s exactly what needs to happen. Maybe what needs to happen before we get to morphin time is for us to reach the place in our spiritual lives where “that’s all I can stands – I can’t stands no more.”But how do you get to that place in your spiritual life, the place where you have a “holy discontent”? Here’s what I think is the answer; here’s what Pastor Rick suggests – a check-up. We need a spiritual check-up. In fact, it’s something God commands us to do, and it’s something the authors of the Bible themselves did somewhat regularly. You might remember David’s prayer in Psalm 139: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me …” (Psalm 139:23-24) David knew it was time for a spiritual check-up, so he invited God to be his physician and to perform a search of his heart and his mind. In the New Testament the Apostle Paul challenges us over and over to get in the habit of performing a spiritual check-up. In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul, in his discussion of the Lord’s Supper, tells us this is something we need to do every time we participate in communion. Here’s what he writes: “Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup.” (1 Corinthians 11:28) In 2 Corinthians 8:8 Paul challenges us to “test the sincerity of your love.” In 2 Corinthians 13:5 Paul says, “Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.” And in Galatians 6:4 Paul says, “Each one should test his own actions.” Most of us aren’t particularly fond of going to the doctor for a check-up, and frankly it only gets more unpleasant as you get older. When you’re a kid all they do is weigh you and look in your ears and nose. Then they start taking your blood pressure. Then they do blood tests and hook you up with a bunch of electrodes while you run on a treadmill. Then everyone’s least favorite test – the colonoscopy. And because we’ve learned to dislike getting a physical check-up, we’re a little leery of doing a spiritual check-up, because we worry it might be just as unpleasant.But the fact is that this process of transformation is never going to get off the ground until we get to the place where we can’t stands no more, and we’re not going to reach that state of holy discontent until we do an honest evaluation of where we are. My Dad died on a July 20th when he was 54 from a heart attack. My Dad never went to the doctor, never got check-ups, never did blood tests. He had no idea that his heart was unhealthy. My oldest brother Jim had his first heart attack on a July 20th when he was 54. Jim never went to the doctor, never got check-ups, never did blood tests. When I visited Jim in the hospital he showed me the results of the blood tests they did when he had his heart attack. Most of you know that one of the things doctors check when they do blood tests to evaluate the health of your heart is your triglycerides. The Mayo Clinic says your triglycerides should be 100 or under for optimal heart health. My brother’s triglyceride level was 5,500. So let’s say you did a blood test and found out your triglycerides were at 5,500. Would that concern you? Might you not conclude, “That’s all I can stands; I can’t stands no more”? Wouldn’t that shock you into making some lifestyle changes? It would for most of us. But the only way we find out that information is by doing a check-up, by running some tests. And the Bible tells us that we need to do the same thing with our spiritual lives. We need to examine ourselves. We need to test ourselves.So how do we do that? After all, there is no such thing as an x-ray of the soul or an MRI of our spiritual heart. There are no blood tests we can run to evaluate how close to God we are. So how does this work?If you’ve picked up a “Transformed” journal, you will find a Spiritual Health Assessment on pages 220-222. We’ve reproduced a couple of those pages for you so you can have them in front of you this morning. Now this Assessment isn’t inspired by God. There are other tools out there that you can use to help you examine yourself spiritually. But hopefully this will help give you some structure to the process. Now we don’t have time to go through this entire assessment this morning, but instead I’d like to highlight one evaluation question from each of these five categories. Many of you will recognize these categories from past series we’ve done. These categories are the five purposes of the Christian’s life, the five purposes Pastor Rick has written about in his book “The Purpose Driven Life.” And in fact these five purposes are right in line with what we call around Cornerstone the “5 G’s of a true disciple.” Our first purpose as followers of Jesus is worship. You were planned for God’s pleasure. Your first purpose is to be in a loving relationship with God. And the way you enter into that relationship is through our first G, which is grace. You begin a relationship with God by accepting his grace, and you continue in that relationship by worshipping him for his grace and his goodness and his power.So look at the first evaluation questions under the category of “Worship.” It says this: “How I live my life shows that God is my highest priority.” How would you rate yourself using that question? On a scale of 0 to 5, with 5 meaning that question perfectly tracks your life, what number would you give yourself? Think about it this way – if people were to look at how you spend your money, would they say, “Craig’s checkbook shows that God is his highest priority.” If they looked at how you spend your time, would they say, “Craig’s schedule shows that God is his highest priority.”And let me say this. The point of this exercise is not to make you feel guilty. It’s not to make you feel depressed. But what may well happen as we go through each of these questions is that we notice there are parts of our spiritual lives that are way off track. What may well happen is that we develop a holy discontent, that we get to the place where we say, “That’s all I can stands; I can’t stands no more.” So how would you evaluate your spiritual life using that question: “How I live my life shows that God is my highest priority”?The second category is fellowship; we use the word “groups” for this category. Our second purpose in life is fellowship – you were formed for God’s family. Let’s use the third question to evaluate how we’re doing in this category: “I have a deep and meaningful connection with others in the church.” On a scale of 0 to 5, how would you rate yourself? Do you have any close friends in your church? Are there people who know you well, who pray with you, who encourage you, who comfort you? Are there people who are partnering with you to help you grow spiritually? Are there people you know well enough to challenge them spiritually? Obviously you want to have good friends in all walks of life; your church family shouldn’t be your only friends. But you were formed for God’s family. You were made for meaningful friendships with God’s people. So how are you doing in that category?The third category is Discipleship; we use the word “growth” for this category.” You were created to become like Christ. Look at the last evaluation question in that section: “I am consistently pursuing habits that are helping me model my life after Jesus.” On a scale of 0 to 5, how would you rate yourself? The key word there is “habits.” We don’t grow closer to God and we don’t grow more like Christ through sheer willpower. We grow through our habits. As one person puts it, “Habits eat willpower for lunch.” There’s frankly no big secret to growing in our walk with God, is there? We grow by developing good spiritual habits – the habit of daily prayer, the habit of daily Bible reading, the habit of Bible memory, to name just a few. So on a scale of 0 to 5, how are you doing in consistently pursuing habits that are helping you model your life after Jesus?And if your honest answer is, “I’m a 0,” that’s OK. It’s OK as long as it stirs in you a holy discontent with where you are spiritually, as long as it leads to a “that’s all I can stands, I can’t stands no more” moment. So when you fill out this assessment, be as honest with yourself as you can. Because after all, the goal isn’t to give yourself a high score; the goal is transformation. The goal is to get closer to God.The fourth category is ministry; we use the word “gifts” for this category. You were shaped for serving God. Look at the second evaluation question in the list: “I am currently serving God with the gifts and passions he has given me.” So on a scale of 0 to 5, how do you rate in terms of using your gifts to serve? Do you have a ministry? We’re all called to ministry, the Bible says. It’s not just pastors who are ministers; every one of us is a minister. So what’s your ministry? And are you enjoying it? Are you being effective in it?The fifth category is evangelism; we use the word “guide” for this category. You were made for a mission. Look at the third evaluation question: “I regularly pray for those who don’t know Christ.” On a scale of 0 to 5, how true is that statement in your life? As followers of Jesus, every one of us is called to be a minister and every one of us is called to be a missionary. Jesus has given you and me the job of sharing the good news of the Gospel with people we know and love. But even before we open our mouths to share the good news we need to be praying for our friends. That’s why I highlighted this question, because if you’re not praying for people who don’t know Jesus I’m pretty sure you’re not talking to them about Jesus. Now in your “Transformed” journal on page 223 you’ll see a page called “Spiritual Health Plan.” And at the top of this page is a very important statement with a very important fill-in-the-blank. Here’s how it reads: “I will share my plan with ____________ who will be my spiritual partner to help me balance the five Biblical purposes in my life.” I said it earlier – it takes a team to achieve a dream. Transformation happens best when we are partnered with other people who will encourage us, challenge us and hold us accountable. So think about who you want to partner with for the next 50 days in this process. And then under that statement you’ll find the five purposes – worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism – and a place for you to put your scores from the assessment. And then the next set of boxes is key. It’s called “Practices.” This is where you answer the question, “What do I need to do?” This is where you’re going to put your spiritual goals. Let’s look at a couple of examples. Let’s say one of your weaker areas is fellowship. You’re not really connected with anyone. Yes, you have lots of friends, but you can’t honestly say that you have deep and meaningful relationships with anyone here at church. So what are you going to do; what’s your plan? One goal might be to join a small group and to commit to that group heart and soul. You’re not just going to go; you’re going to do your best to really connect with this handful of people. Or maybe you’re going to start with one person. Maybe your goal is to ask someone to be your partner for the next 50 days of the “Transformation” series. You’re going to think about it and pray about it for a few days, and then by next Saturday at noon you’re going to make the call to ask so and so to be your partner. Or let’s say you’re weak in the area of discipleship. Quite honestly, you don’t really have any established habits that are helping you to become more like Jesus. So what’s your plan? By the way, I would definitely recommend involving your spiritual partner in this planning process. Ask this person, “What do you do to help you grow? And knowing me like you do, what do you think would be a good habit for me to develop?” And when you come up with a plan, write it down – I’m going to read a chapter of the New Testament every day; I’m going to memorize one verse a week; I’m going to spend five minutes on my knees in prayer every day for the next 50 days. But here’s what I hope we don’t do. I hope we don’t do what my brother did. I hope we don’t decide that we can’t be bothered to take a test, to do a check-up. I hope we don’t say, “I’m doing OK spiritually. I’m doing well enough.” Because while you might be doing just fine, you don’t want to wait for a crisis to happen to find out that your spiritual triglycerides are at 5,500, to discover that you are as unhealthy as you can be spiritually and that you could have done something to fix it.And if it turns out that spiritually your cholesterol is in the unhealthy category, there is a word I want to remind you of – grace. Do you remember this definition of grace? Grace means there’s nothing you can do to make God love you more, and there’s nothing you can do to make God love you less. You are loved by God just the way you are. And if spiritually you’re off track, if for whatever reason you’ve wandered away from God, God’s door is always open. He’s always waiting for you to come back and to fall into his open arms.And one of the best and most tangible ways to partake of God’s grace is through communion, which we’re going to share together right now. This is a time for us to get right with God. It’s a time, the Apostle Paul told us, to evaluate ourselves, to do a spiritual check-up. It’s a time to come clean with God, to confess our sin to God, and to accept his forgiveness and his grace. Communion ................
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