A New Self for a New Year

You are listening to a message from Thrive Community Church, a church located in Southwest Florida. For more info, visit us at thrive-fl.org. The idea is that everybody talks about wanting to change and making changes in their lives, but so often we struggle at keeping the change, actually making it happen, right? And so we're going to talk about that today. Today it's a new year and it's going to be a new you. That's what we're looking at, but let's pray first, okay? Lord God, this day is yours and we are yours. We are here right now to hear your word, to hear you, for your spirit to speak into our lives through your word, and to make a real difference there. We thank you not only for this fellowship, but across this entire area, Lord, you have many, many gospel-centered churches that are proclaiming your goodness and grace and saving faith in Jesus, and we thank you for each one of them, Father, and that we are actually united together in one Christian church on earth of many tribes and languages and peoples and nations and cultures and backgrounds and experiences, Lord, and we are thankful that we're just a part of that. And we want you to grow your church this day across this entire globe in many, many ways, Lord God, and that you would use us as just a part of that. And we pray, Lord, too, that as a new semester starts at FGCU and FSW and in school, Lord, for many of the students here in Lee County and Collier County, we pray, Lord God, that you would be working in the lives of students and instructors alike, and that across, for instance, Lord, you know what's going on at FGCU and all the different Christian ministries there. We just pray that you'd bless them all and work in such a way that a movement of your spirit is happening on that campus as well. All this we pray, Lord, and ask that you come and visit us this day as we hear your word now. All in Jesus' name, amen. Now, you can follow along with this sermon series today. If you have the You version of the Bible on your phone or smartphone or tablet or whatever, there's notes to this. You know one thing? And you can see right here how to get that. One thing you can also find today is I have a map to our house for our hangout tonight from 5 to 8, and it's going to be brisket, okay? And I've got two briskets. We can feed all y'all. That's the plural in the South, you know, right? All y'all is the plural. We'd love to have you all at the house. We have enough room. We'll make room. We'll make it work. And if you talk to anybody who's gone, students as well as residents of the community here, you'll find out it's just a really good time to connect and to be family and to celebrate God's goodness and grace and feeling like you really do belong. And we do have black bean burgers as well, okay, for anyone who's not into the beef. Okay, let's look at this passage now. Ephesians 4 that we're going to start with today. And even though we start with this passage, it's a theme that runs through almost all of Paul's letters, almost all of them. And we're going to kind of hit on that. And when I was studying and working on this, this one was a tough one to kind of put together. I was seeing references and cross references across Romans and Galatians and Colossians and second Corinthians in particular. I mean, it was all over the place. It's not just this passage. Detroit really understand it. It's like, okay, now how did Paul, what does he mean by this? And so we're going to read this, but we're going to go quite a few different places today. Okay, so hang on. Here we go. Ephesians 4. Now this I say and testify in the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ. Assuming you've heard about him and were taught in him as the truth is in Jesus to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds and to put on the new self created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. You know, I think when most people talk about change and New Year's resolutions, growth plans in their lives, making a difference in their lives, doing something different, they're usually talking about doing something different, adding something into their schedule or subtracting something that they're actually doing. So we might add in a new habit, some new knowledge, a new routine, or, you know, like I need more exercise. That's my goal or more reading. OK, or you might subtract something like less screen time. Cut out the sugar, you know, something like that. But what's radical and amazing about the New Testament is that when it talks ...