Messages from New Hope Assembly of God, NuMine, PA Steve Kromer

Today, we’re continuing our message series entitled, “Clean House.”  In it, we’re learning how to do some spiritual spring cleaning in our lives so that we can live them to their fullest without all of the clutter that weighs us down and trips us up.



One thing that always amazes me when watching the hoarder home reality shows is the mindset of the hoarder.  There they are crawling around through mountains of stuff, using a bucket for their restroom, eating moldy food, finding pets that died years ago under their rubble. 



Yet they sincerely don’t think that their condition is all that bad.  They have a reason and an excuse for every mess that gets pointed out to them.  To them, there is nothing wrong with their messes and everyone else is the problem.  They seclude themselves and cut off all outsiders from entering their home.  They begin to place their identity in their hoard and cannot objectively look at it.  They take it personally when anyone points out a problem with their home.



To clean house spiritually, we must begin with humility and honesty.



Paul wrote to the church in Corinth about the conflict that they had regarding the leaders of the church that they were following.  He said:



1 Corinthians 4:1-5



1 This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.



We can’t trust even our own consciences.  We may not sense any guilt about our lifestyles at all, however, that does not make us innocent before God.  Even our very own heart and mind within us cannot be trusted to indicate our guilt or innocence.



Jeremiah 17:9-10



9 The heart is deceitful above all things



    and beyond cure.



    Who can understand it?



10 “I the Lord search the heart



    and examine the mind,



to reward each person according to their conduct,



    according to what their deeds deserve.”



That’s why David cried out:



Psalm 139:23-24



23 Search me, God, and know my heart;



    test me and know my anxious thoughts.



24 See if there is any offensive way in me,



    and lead me in the way everlasting.



To have a clean house of a life, we cannot lean into our own understanding.  We cannot look to our conscience.  We cannot trust our hearts.  We cannot believe our own thoughts.  They are all part of our old selves and prone to deceive us.



Again, we must go back to the architect and builder of our lives to show us anything that needs corrected in our lives.  We need to go to the One who can take an objective look at our lives and show us with clarity what is right and what is wrong.  We need God!



Jesus dealt with this issue often when interacting with the religious leaders.  Their lives looked great from outward appearances and they worked very hard to ensure that this was the case.  The Lord doesn’t look at outward appearances, though, only humans do.  God searches the heart and weighs motives to make a right judgment.



Jesus saw this reality within them.  He said that they were whitewashed tombs.  On the inside, their lives looked just like a hoarder’s home.  This is what religion unfortunately does.  So long as we look and act and speak a certain way, we are granted a false sense of security by others and think that this means that we are in right standing with God as well.



It’s not about what we say, but about who we are and our relationship with God that mat

Today, we’re continuing our message series entitled, “Clean House.”  In it, we’re learning how to do some spiritual spring cleaning in our lives so that we can live them to their fullest without all of the clutter that weighs us down and trips us up. 



We’ve learned about what sin is; missing the mark.  We learned how to understand not only our God-given purpose in life, but that God has a purpose for everything.  To sin is to use things outside of their intended purpose by God.  To begin cleaning house spiritually, we need to know what those purposes are so that we can recognize what needs cleaned, thrown out, brought in, or reprioritized our lives. 



When we consider sinning, we call this temptation.  It always begins in our minds.  This is where the battlefield truly lies. 



Just like when we throw our socks on the floor and only think about picking them up and putting them in a clothes basket.  Or when we walk into the house to grab a glass of water while outside working and only think about taking our shoes off first.  It’s seeing that sink full of dishes and only thinking that we’ll do them later. 



When we know what is right and choose not to do it, our lives become cluttered and messy.  It doesn’t seem like that big of a deal at first, but if we continue down that path and never stop and choose to do what is right, those little messes turn into big messes.  Eventually those big messes really begin to impact our lives in a big way stealing away from them. 



When the garbage that we keep putting off taking out begins to stink or bugs or mice begin to invade.  When we run out of clean dishes to eat off of.  When we run out of clean clothes to wear.  When we begin to have a hard time opening our door or keep tripping over things.  These are all natural consequences that set off an alarm that something needs done soon! 



God has given us a whole lot of internal alarms that tell us that it is time to do some house cleaning within our lives as well.  We may be able to ignore them for a time, but it will only be to our own downfall and detriment to do so.  It’s far easier to deal with issues when they are small and manageable. 



It’s easier to do one load of laundry than to wait and take up every machine at the laundromat to catch up.  It’s easier to wash dishes every night than to wait until the sink and counters are full of dirty dishes.  It’s easier to clean up that spill as soon as it happens than after it has had time to set in and becomes a stain. 



If a house is let go long enough, it will have to be stripped down to the foundation and rebuilt entirely.  It’s far easier to patch a simple hole in roof as soon as it is revealed than to put a bucket under it and let it continue.  As we well know, it won’t remain that small hole for long and the destruction that it brings will not end until there is nothing left to destroy. 



We have an enemy whose purpose is to wreak havoc and destruction in our lives.  Deceitful as he is, sin often enters our lives small and in a way that seems innocent and right.  That may be how it begins, but its ending is always death and destruction. 



When God points out a little drip in your life, praise Him for revealing it and let Him seal it up quickly!  Do not excuse it away or ignore it!  Ignoring sin our life is to ignore God and the more that we get into the habit of ignoring God, our hearts harden toward Him.  The more that we are hard-hearted toward God, the more danger we are prone to in life! 



Our lives are built by God just as a house is designed and built by someone.  He knows what is best for it and what it is purposed for.  His word of warning is one for our good and benefit, NOT for our shame and condemnation! 



Hebrews 3:3-13 



3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by

Today, we’re continuing our new message series entitled, “Clean House.”  In it, we’re learning how to do some spiritual spring cleaning in our lives so that we can live them to their fullest without all of the clutter that weighs us down and trips us up.



Last week, we learned a bit about what sin is and just how desperately we need a healthy relationship with the Holy Spirit.  It’s only through this active relationship that we can avoid sin and fulfill God’s purpose for our lives.  We want to avoid indulging in the flesh.  As we learned, this sets up a command center in our lives from which the devil wages war against us.  This goes far further than we realize!



This morning, God wants to shift our thinking about sin a bit more.  We typically think of sin being to do what God tells us not to do.  Therefore, if the Bible does not explicitly tell us not to do something, we’re not sure whether it is right or wrong for us and are more likely to do it.  If the Bible doesn’t explicitly call something out as sin, then we use that as justification for His approval to do it.



Our flesh is always looking for loopholes to enable us to do whatever we want and yet also make us feel like we’re still in right standing with God.  Our flesh tempts us to find that line between sin and righteousness and dwell there. 



The Spirit is always looking to give us a full and abundant life and to lead us far from sin.  The Spirit wants us to dwell within His safe refuge.



Going back to what sin is, God doesn’t define for us all of the countless ways that we can miss His target.  Instead, He makes clear to us His plans and purposes; that bullseye.  When we understand God’s purpose for something, we then are aware that using something for a purpose other than which it was created by God for is sin.



Craftsman designed and created a flat screwdriver for the purpose of tightening and loosing flat head screws.  When I use it as a pry bar or chisel, I’m likely to bend or break it.  Why?  Because it was not created for those purposes.  I sin against it.  Not only may it be damaged, but I just might damage myself doing it, too!  It was uniquely designed and intentionally created for that purpose.



God has a design and purpose for communication.



God has a design and purpose for friendship.



God has a design and purpose for music.



God has a design and purpose for marriage



God has a design and purpose for sex.



God has a design and purpose for work.



God has a design and purpose for education.



God has a design and purpose for everything.



Nothing that God does is accidental or a surprise to Him.



One of the first house cleaning tasks is to recognize what is in need of cleaning.  What is dirty?  What is out of place?  What needs thrown out?  What needs to be brought in?



What areas of my life are affected by sin and need to be cleansed or renewed?



When we know and understand God’s design and purpose for our lives, we can quickly identify anything that is not in agreement with them.



To recognize these things, we need to get to know God and His design and purpose for them and where they belong in our lives.  A fire is a wonderful thing in our fireplace on a cold winter night.  A fire is an unnecessary and irritating thing in our fireplace on a hot summer day.  A fire is a horrifying thing in the middle of the living room floor at any time!



For everything, there is a proper time and a season and a purpose.  To get things out of order when it comes to times and seasons or to misunderstand the purpose of things is to sin; to miss the mark.



Now is the season for tilling and fertilizing and planting.  If you do all of that and then you wake up tomorrow and believe that it’s time to harvest and uproot, well, you’re going to sin by doing it.  All of your work will be for nothing.  That season will come, but tomorrow is not the time.



How do we recognize what t

Spring has arrived!  Most of us begin to feel the need this time of the year to clean house.  We gather up sticks in the yard that fell through the winter to prepare to mow.  We throw out stuff that we don’t use anymore.  We organize the clutter found throughout our homes.  We throw open the windows and do some serious deep cleaning.



It’s a lot of work, but it feels so good once that work is finished!



It’s so easy for that clutter and dirt to build back up again gradually over time, though…  Things that we don’t even notice in our day-to-day routines or we’re just too busy to take care of them.  It’s no different in our spiritual lives.  Thankfully, we have an incredible helper when it comes to cleaning house spiritually; the Holy Spirit!  He’s ready to get to work to do some spring cleaning in our lives and man do we need it!



Today, we’re tackling a tough topic that our flesh loves, but the Spirit hates.  Anyone want to take a guess at what that might be?  Our flesh loves it, but the Spirit hates it? 



Sin!  To sin is to literally miss the mark. 



God created us on purpose and for a purpose, but also with the free will to choose how we live out our lives.  We are stewards of God’s gift of life.  God’s purpose is the bullseye on our life’s target.  When we choose to live outside of that purpose, we miss the bullseye; we sin. 



Our choice to sin does not only affect ourselves, but it also affects all of those around us.



Now we typically think of sin as intentionally doing something that we’re told not to do.  God tells us to speak the truth, but we lie.  God tells us not to covet, but we lust after what belongs to others.  God tells us to work hard for six days and to take the seventh day off, but we either work on the one day of rest or we’re lazy and don’t work on the other six days.



Yes, sin is doing what God says not to do, but it is also not doing the things that God says to do.



James 4:17



If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.



There are some black-and-white topics that are sin for everyone at all times.  Things that are never beneficial and never acceptable.  However, since we were each were created for different purposes, there are some things that are sin for you and not for me and also sin for me and not for you.



I was not created to be an NFL linebacker.  I just wasn’t.  If I committed and dedicated my life to pursuing this purpose, not only would I live a life of failure, but also one of misery and discontentment and probably one filled with a whole lot of pain.  I would be living a life of sin; completely missing my purpose!



There are also things that can be sin for us just in certain seasons of life.  As we grow and mature in our faith, we are often granted freedom to do things that our conscience once forbade us to do beforehand.  Paul teaches all about these arguable matters and uses meat sacrificed to idols as an illustration of this.  It was a very hot topic at that time in the church in Corinth!



In fact in Acts 15, the church leadership all got together in Jerusalem to seek after God and figure out which of the Jewish laws and traditions carry over to non-Jew Christians and which did not.  What was sin for a Jew, but not a Gentile?  They came up with an extremely short list covered in just a few sentences.



Under the New Covenant, now with the Holy Spirit indwelling us, we can go even a step further from mere “doing and not doing” straight to the heart motive of our behaviors to define sin.



Romans 14:23



…everything that does not come from faith is sin.



Yes, even when we do the good things that we know we ought to do, but we do not do them because of our faith in obeying God, then it is still sin.  If we do things to look good before others or to selfishly receive blessings from God for ourselves, then even doing good is sin.



Are we begi

Message provided by Lisa Wadding
The post Becoming A New Creation appeared first on New Hope Assembly of God in NuMine, PA.

Matthew 28:1-10



1 After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.



2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.



5 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.”



8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”



Matthew 28:16-20



16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”



Because He lives, we have hope.



Because He lives, we are certain that whatever hardships we face in this lifetime, they are not our destiny.



Because He lives, we have confidence that our best days are still ahead.



Because He lives, we are never alone!



Acts 1:3-5



3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”



This is the same promise that Jesus gave before His death on the cross:



John 14:15-19



15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever – 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.



John 16:7



But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.



19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.



Because Jesus is alive forevermore, so also will we live with Him eternally!  We have not been abandoned as orphans, we are children of God; adopted into His family.  We have been filled with His very Presence through the Holy Spirit!



Jesus gave His live on the cross to take upon Himself the penalty and punishment for our sin.  He was cursed so that we are blessed.  He died so that we might live.  He was pierced for our transgressions.  He was crushed for our iniquities.  The punishment that brought us peace was on Him.  By His wounds, we are healed.



Jesus endured a time of pain and suffering, but they were not His destiny!  So it is also with us who choose to follow Him!



2 Corinthians 4:16-18



16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.