Sunday Sermon

Holy & Blameless Children of God Shawn Moore Guest Speaker Preacher from Northside church of Christ in Spokane, Washington January 30, 2005

Scripture: Ephesians 1:3-6

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

How God’s Children are

• Mt 18.3-4 “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Claiming to Be God’s Kids

• Jn 8.41-44 …they protested, “The only Father we have is God himself.” Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and now am here.
• Jn 8.41-44 … You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

God’s goal for our election

• Holy and Blameless

– a separated people (in what they do and don’t do)

Separated from what?

• from worldly morals, values, pursuits while we live in His presence
• 1 Jn 2.15-17 Do not love the world …for everything in the world…and its desires pass away, but the one who does the will of God lives forever

Without Spot or Blemish

• Dt 15.21 If an animal has a defect, is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.
• God placed a curse on those who tried to offer up flawed animals when they had perfectly good ones (Mal 1.14)

Holy and Blameless Sacrifices

• Rom 12.1 “…by the mercies of God, I beg you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God…”

How Do We “Lame” Ourselves

• Corrupt talk
• Greed
• Lust
• Wrath
• Bitterness
• Negativity

Where God can work on your heart

• A cold, stony heart that keeps us doing the same self-laming
• Saturday night: Stories on the crosses

A Softened Heart

• Mt 5.4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Living as holy/blameless children of love?

• Prayer
• Find/remember the meaning of what we do here
• Scripture
• Honesty w/trusted brothers and sisters
• Remembering that we are constantly in His presence and being comfortable with that

Showing love/appreciate for your Heavenly Father?

• Starts when we, in faith, believe and repent (Lk 13.3, Acts 2.38, Rom 10.9-10)
• Goes through baptism (Acts 2.38; 22.16)
• Into a holy and blameless life of love

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