{"id":11689,"date":"2016-06-14T15:32:04","date_gmt":"2016-06-14T19:32:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=11689"},"modified":"2016-07-25T15:13:59","modified_gmt":"2016-07-25T19:13:59","slug":"life-after-the-born-again-birth-6516","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=11689","title":{"rendered":"Life After the Born-Again Birth (6\/5\/16)"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is life after death, and so it’s critically important to prepare for that life.\u00a0 To enter that life, we must be forgiven and to be “in Christ”… in other words, we must be Born Again.\u00a0 But what happens between that salvation experience and eternity?\u00a0 Is there life after birth???
\n<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

During our sermon of 6\/5\/16, PUMC Lay Leader Larry Bakely shared his experiences on this “Life after the Born-Again Birth” by looking at Paul’s ministry as described in Galatians 1:11-24.\u00a0 Larry was filling in for Pastor Jim Bolton who was on vacation.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

The following recording is from the 9:30 service.\u00a0 Click on the play button, then scroll down to follow along…<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Our scripture reading was from Galatians 1:11-24\u00a0 Open the below drop down box to follow along.\u00a0 The New International Version is shown…<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t

Galatians 1:11-24<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t

11 I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up.<\/p>\n

12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.<\/p>\n

14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.<\/p>\n

15 But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased<\/p>\n

16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man,<\/p>\n

17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.<\/p>\n

18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days.<\/p>\n

19 I saw none of the other apostles \u2014 only James, the Lord’s brother.<\/p>\n

20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.<\/p>\n

21 Later I went to Syria and Cilicia.<\/p>\n

22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.<\/p>\n

23 They only heard the report: “The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”<\/p>\n

24 And they praised God because of me.<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Let me run some dates past you: July 4. December 25.\u00a0 April 15.<\/p>\n

What thoughts do they conjure up?<\/p>\n

Now what about these dates: \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 July 5.\u00a0 December 26.\u00a0 April 16???<\/p>\n

Chances are, you might greet these dates with relief.\u00a0 The parties and cookouts you planned are all done.\u00a0 The Christmas gifts that you spent so much time thinking about have been bought, wrapped, and unwrapped.<\/p>\n

And that tax return- it\u2019s filed!\u00a0 You clicked \u201csend\u201d or dropped it in the mailbox.\u00a0 It\u2019s done.\u00a0 Check it off!!!<\/p>\n

Are you saved?<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of us can name the date, and time and place where we \u201cgot saved.\u201d\u00a0 Others may not remember a specific date, others may not be certain.<\/p>\n

But all of us can probably feel this sense of \u201ccheck it off.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cPunch your ticket to heaven.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cDon\u2019t have to worry about it any more.\u201d<\/p>\n

But what happens when your July 5, or your December 26, or when your April 16 comes?\u00a0 We often think about the question, \u201cIs there life after death?\u201d\u00a0 But do we consider the question\u00a0 \u201cIs there life after birth?\u201d<\/p>\n

Or more specifically, is there life after the born-again \u00a0birth?\u00a0 What happens after we get saved?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Life After Death…<\/span><\/h3>\n

As most of you know, my wife Kim passed away last year on June 20.<\/p>\n

Since that date and during this past year, I\u2019ve been especially sensitive to listening to what God is telling me about the rest of my life.\u00a0\"KimnLarry_100_1340\"<\/p>\n

During this time, I have had three mountaintop experiences\u2026 Moments when I knew that God was trying to teach me something.\u00a0 Not to force everything into a tidy 3-point sermon, but I really have experienced three distinct moments\u00a0 that others might chalk off as \u201ccoincidence\u201d or \u201cwishful thinking.\u201d\u00a0 But I consider them to be holy moments where God was, and still is, working with me.<\/p>\n

When I chose this morning\u2019s \u00a0passage from Galatians, it was clear to me that the life of Paul: his calling, his passion, and the authority that he had from Jesus Himself, dovetailed with these three holy moments that I\u2019ve experienced over the past year.<\/p>\n

And so, as we consider the question, \u201cis there life after birth?\u201d,\u00a0 these three holy moments help describe what that life after the born-again birth is all about.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll summarize these moments with three words:\u00a0 Go, With, and Gloria.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Go…<\/span><\/h3>\n

First of all, the Life after the Born-Again Birth gives us the power of \u201cGO.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Kim was in the hospital, her Mom and I were visiting,\u00a0 and somehow the question about lunch arose.\u00a0 There was a discussion about my going downstairs to get some lunch and Mom offering to wait around for me to return.\u00a0 I hesitated a moment, and Kim said with a loud clear voice: Go!<\/p>\n

Now you have to realize that at that point, everything she said was only in a whisper.\u00a0 The breath wasn\u2019t there.\u00a0 But she said, strong and clear with her full voice- Go!<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take me long to realize that this was a God moment.\u00a0 This word Go meant a lot more than just going for lunch.<\/p>\n

The Power of Go is a call from God.\u00a0 It\u2019s a challenge.\u00a0 We\u2019re called to Go from our comfort zones and to change.\u00a0 Look at Saul in this passage.\u00a0 Verse 13 talks about his \u201cprevious way of life\u201d\u00a0 \u2026. how he persecuted Christians.<\/p>\n

But the Power of Go hit Saul and changed him to Paul.\u00a0 Verse 15 tells us that God called him.\u00a0 God changed Saul –\u00a0 a man who persecuted the faith,\u00a0 into one who preached the faith.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t

Genesis 12:1-4<\/p>\n

The Lord had said to Abram, \u000b<\/span>\n“Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. <\/span>\n“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; \u000bI will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. <\/span>\nI will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; \u000band all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” <\/span>\nSo Abram left\u2026<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

What about Abram? He\u2019s another person in the Bible whose name was changed.\u00a0 In Genesis 12 God called him to a different land.\u00a0 Go.\u00a0 Leave your country.\u00a0 Leave your family.\u00a0 Leave your people.\u00a0 Go.\u00a0 You may not understand where I\u2019m sending you, but Go.\u00a0 That couldn\u2019t have been easy.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t

Exodus 3:9-12<\/p>\n

And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.<\/span><\/p>\n

So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”<\/span><\/p>\n

But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”<\/span><\/p>\n

And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n

Or what about Moses?\u00a0\u00a0 Before he had the mountaintop experience on Mt. Sinai, he had that great mountaintop experience in the desert-\u00a0 at the Burning Bush.\u00a0 But the bottom line was that God called Moses to leave his comfortable way of life, return to Egypt, and confront Pharaoh.<\/span><\/p>\n

This wasn\u2019t easy for Moses either.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact he even argues with God and ends up telling God to please pick somebody else!\u00a0 But God gives us mountaintop experiences and burning bushes so that we can Go and serve Him.<\/span><\/div><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The power of Go brings change.\u00a0 God calls us to Go and He molds us into something else. But the power of Go also gives freedom.<\/p>\n

Beginning with verse 16 in our passage,\u00a0 Paul tells us that God was \u201cpleased to reveal His Son IN me.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Paul was freed from the burden of figuring out his theology.<\/p>\n