Embracing Transformation Through Love and Acceptance
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
Some of the greatest stories ever told are about those who come to bring transformation, but are rejected because of fear and misunderstanding. We see it repeatedly in our favorite movies and literature. Heroes who hold the key to salvation, but are cast out because they challenge the way things have always been. [00:00:06]
Rejection is a powerful force that is often fueled by fear, the fear of losing. Losing control, having owed our worldview challenge and discovering that God is bigger than the box we have placed him in. [00:05:12]
How often do we do the same, where instead of embracing the transformation Jesus is offering, we seek to silence the change? Now, Laura, at the beginning said we've got some growth and some... bumps in the road, essentially, in the last four years. [00:10:29]
How frequently do we resist transformation because it is uncomfortable? Because it challenges the way we think. Because we have always seen things. How often do we, like the people of Nazareth, want Jesus on our terms to perform for us? [00:11:42]
The truth is, Jesus is not here to meet our expectations. He is here to transform us, to transform the world, and that is not always easy to accept. But transformation is precisely what he calls us to. The fifth element reminds us that salvation comes through love, love that takes beyond brokenness and chooses to save anyway. [00:12:05]
I'm proud of that little man because he takes things in a way that he holds himself strong and he said daddy I'm done and he does a little adult mimicking and I'm like and Jacob's letting him finish I said what do you mean you're done I'm just done with them say what do you mean goes well during lunch these boys came up to me and they were just making fun of my daddy and my father they were just saying that I should have a mom and a dad [00:14:18]
See, powder also presents a vision of transformation. A boy rejected because he is different, yet one who carries an unshakable connection to something greater, something divine within him. And though he is cast out, his present changes the lives of those around him. Jesus too was rejected. His own people tried to kill him before his ministry had truly begun. [00:17:38]
He then did not let rejection stop him. He walked through the crowd untouched and continued his mission. He continued to heal, teach, and love, knowing that rejection would follow him to the cross. But even then, love had the final word. [00:18:03]
The test of discipleship is whether we follow him when he calls us to do something greater, something more complex, when he calls us to radical love, mercy, justice, and seeing that God at working places we never expected. [00:18:39]
The people of Nazareth missed their moment of transformation because they were unwilling to see beyond their expectations. We must not make the same mistake, and I know that Christ Church, and through some of the growing things we've had together in the last four years, is still here. [00:18:57]
Jesus is strolling through the crowds, still moving among us. He is calling us to love immensely than we can imagine. We must not make the same mistake in that crowd. The question is, will we embrace that love, or will we turn away? [00:19:28]
May we have the courage to follow Christ, even when the road is difficult. May we allow His love to transform us, even when it challenges everything that we know. And may we, like you, like power, like so many understood heroes before us, recognize the power is not found in our force or control, but in love that refuses to be limited. [00:19:49]
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Rejection is a powerful force that is often fueled by fear, the fear of losing. Losing control, having owed our worldview challenge and discovering that God is bigger than the box we have placed him in. [00:05:12]
How often do we do the same, where instead of embracing the transformation Jesus is offering, we seek to silence the change? Now, Laura, at the beginning said we've got some growth and some... bumps in the road, essentially, in the last four years. [00:10:29]
How frequently do we resist transformation because it is uncomfortable? Because it challenges the way we think. Because we have always seen things. How often do we, like the people of Nazareth, want Jesus on our terms to perform for us? [00:11:42]
The truth is, Jesus is not here to meet our expectations. He is here to transform us, to transform the world, and that is not always easy to accept. But transformation is precisely what he calls us to. The fifth element reminds us that salvation comes through love, love that takes beyond brokenness and chooses to save anyway. [00:12:05]
I'm proud of that little man because he takes things in a way that he holds himself strong and he said daddy I'm done and he does a little adult mimicking and I'm like and Jacob's letting him finish I said what do you mean you're done I'm just done with them say what do you mean goes well during lunch these boys came up to me and they were just making fun of my daddy and my father they were just saying that I should have a mom and a dad [00:14:18]
See, powder also presents a vision of transformation. A boy rejected because he is different, yet one who carries an unshakable connection to something greater, something divine within him. And though he is cast out, his present changes the lives of those around him. Jesus too was rejected. His own people tried to kill him before his ministry had truly begun. [00:17:38]
He then did not let rejection stop him. He walked through the crowd untouched and continued his mission. He continued to heal, teach, and love, knowing that rejection would follow him to the cross. But even then, love had the final word. [00:18:03]
The test of discipleship is whether we follow him when he calls us to do something greater, something more complex, when he calls us to radical love, mercy, justice, and seeing that God at working places we never expected. [00:18:39]
The people of Nazareth missed their moment of transformation because they were unwilling to see beyond their expectations. We must not make the same mistake, and I know that Christ Church, and through some of the growing things we've had together in the last four years, is still here. [00:18:57]
Jesus is strolling through the crowds, still moving among us. He is calling us to love immensely than we can imagine. We must not make the same mistake in that crowd. The question is, will we embrace that love, or will we turn away? [00:19:28]
May we have the courage to follow Christ, even when the road is difficult. May we allow His love to transform us, even when it challenges everything that we know. And may we, like you, like power, like so many understood heroes before us, recognize the power is not found in our force or control, but in love that refuses to be limited. [00:19:49]
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