Series: Legit
Week 1 – “Christ IN Me”
The Word: Mark 1:15-17, Isaiah 53:5, 2 Corinthians 5:17-20.
Main Thought: Jesus is not asking to be an addition to your life; He is asking to be your life.
Message Explanation: We are excited to kickoff a new series called, “LEGIT!” Legit. Real. Authentic. Christ-follower. Over the next few weeks we will talk about how do I know I am a LEGITIMATE child of God? Is my relationship with God real?
What does it mean to be legitimate?
Legitimate means, “having full rights and obligations by birth, being exactly as purposed, principle of hereditary right.”
We usually equate a LEGIT Christ-follower these ways:
- I was born in a “Christian” family. - I was baptized or went through confirmation. - Going to church makes you a Christian. (Garage doesn’t make you a car). - What you believe is what makes you a Christian. For others it is about how we “behave” that makes us a Christian. - Living a good life makes you a Christian.
Mark 1:15-17: “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”16 One day as Jesus was walking along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew throwing a net into the water, for they fished for a living. 17 Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!”
The first part of the gospel of Jesus isn’t “Love” or “Grace” but it begins with “Repent.” The next thing Jesus says as the book of Mark begins is this: “Repent.” When Jesus said to repent, He meant for people to stop, to make a 180-degree change in the way they were living in order to embrace a new way of living.
1. Repentance is the first step to become a LEGIT Christ-Follower
Luke 13:5: “No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”
We are helpless apart from the grace of Jesus. Because of what Jesus did FOR us, we have the opportunity to TURN to Him. Repentance helps us understand what Jesus did on the cross as PERSONAL.
Isaiah 53:3-5: “But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.”
2. Salvation is given by God and not earned by us.
Ephesians 2:8-9: “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”
Ephesians 2:13: "But now in Christ Jesus you who sometimes were far off are made near by the blood of Christ"
Romans 5:6-8: “When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 3. Jesus is not asking to be an addition to your life; He is asking to be your life.
To be “in Christ” means that we have accepted His sacrifice as a payment for our own sin. On our sin list, He has forgiven all of our attitudes, thoughts and actions. When Jesus came, He showed up asking people to change direction, asking people to stop heading in the direction they were already moving, in order to make a turn, a 180-degree turn.
What is keeping you from a wholehearted commitment to becoming a LEGIT Christ-follower? To truly follow Christ means He has become everything to us.
Element of Fun: The students played the game, .” It was a fun game to watch at all campuses!
Music: We Unite, Running, Forever Reign, Break Every Chain
Favorite Moment: Listening to small groups and two students receiving Christ and more wanting to follow in baptism!
What’s Next: We continue the "Legit" series as we talk about the big idea that true Christ-followers will change.
To watch any of the series messages, check out the vimeo page