A New U

Sunday was awesome!  Zac O’Heran did a great job with his communion meditation and tying it in with Galatians 2:20.  Thanks Zac!

 

The big church word we covered yesterday was “regeneration.”  If you were out of town, I would encourage you to listen to the sermon online at www.westk.org.  As a follow-up to the sermon, I want to relay to you 10 occurrences that come with our new birth in Jesus.  This list comes from Mark Driscoll who is the founder and lead pastor of a mega-church in Seattle and is president of the Acts 29 Church Planting Network.  Each of the occurrences comes with scripture references.  As you read through the list, take the time to look up each of the scriptures.

 

10 occurrences with this new birth

1)      We have the Trinitarian creator God of the bible as our new Lord, thereby displacing all other false and functional lords who had previously ruled over us (1 John 5:18).

2)      New creations, transformed at the deepest level of our existence to begin living a new life (2 Cor. 5:17 & Gal. 6:15).

3)      New identity from which to live because the old identity no longer defines us (Eph. 4:22-24).

4)      New mind that enables us to enjoy Scripture, allowing us to think God’s truthful thoughts after him (Rom 7:22; 1 Cor. 2:14-16; 1 Pet. 2:2).

5)      New emotions so that we love God, fellow Christians, strangers, and enemies (1 John 4:7).

6)      New desires for holiness, as sin is no longer our deepest appetite (Ps. 37:4; Rom. 7:4-6; Gal. 5:16-17).

7)      Regenerated people enjoy a new community and fellowship with other Christians as members of the church (1 John 1:3)

8)      We live by a new power to follow God by the Holy Spirit’s enabling (Rom. 8:4-13).

9)      Enjoy a new freedom to no longer tolerate, manage, excuse, or accept our sin but rather to put it to death and to live free from habitually besetting sin (Rom. 6:6; 7:6).

10)   The culmination of the effects of regeneration is a new life of worship that is markedly different from how life would otherwise be (Gal. 5:19-23).

 

*Don’t forget…

March 24 – Garth Dietlin will be leading us in worship.  Garth is one of the candidates that applied to join us here at WestK and we are excited about having him come here as part of the interview process.  While Garth is interviewing for us, we are also interviewing for him.  In adding a new pastor on staff, we don’t want to just add anyone.  We want to make sure that there is a mutually good fit for us and for them.  As a leadership, we are excited about having Garth and his fiancé Kim join us. 

March 31 – EASTER!!!  If you didn’t get it the first time… It’s EASTER.  Our Easter service will not be any different than any other Sunday.  We will celebrate the risen Jesus.  We will preach the Gospel.  We will respond to our Heavenly Father by singing praises to His name.  The only difference this Sunday we’ll have as compared to any other Sunday during the year is that people will be more likely to accept your invitation to join you at church.  So don’t miss out on this opportunity!  That morning at WestK we will have a continental style breakfast for you and your guest (9am-10am).  This will be a great time to introduce your guest to friends here at church and to make them feel welcome.  I am confident that God is going to do something great March 31^st, so don’t miss out!!!