SUBMITTING TO GOD:SUBMITTING TO GOD:

PLEASING OUR FATHERPLEASING OUR FATHER

Ultimate SubmissionUltimate Submission

It is written:

"‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,

Every knee will bow before me;

every tongue will confess to God.’“

– Ro 14:11

Submitting is Submitting is NOT The American WayNOT The American Way

• We want to be in control

• On top

• In charge

• Have things “our way”

Submit to GodSubmit to God

• James 4:7 says “Submit to God…”• Stop quarrelling and fighting

• Our Goal: Submit to God in a way that “Pleases our Father”

Two ExamplesTwo Examples

• Duty and bitterness?

• Love and desire to please?

Our Relationship to GodOur Relationship to God

• Creation / Redemption story

• In the beginning, God ‘CREATED”…

– Ge 1:1

His Plan to Reconcile/RedeemHis Plan to Reconcile/Redeem

His instructions to the Jewish nation– Deut 6:4-5

4 Hear, O Israel:

The LORD our God is one LORD:

5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Hear, O IsraelHear, O Israel# 446# 446

1 Hear O Israel - 4661 Hear O Israel - 466Hear O Israel - 466

2 Hear O Israel - 4662 Hear O Israel - 466Hear O Israel - 466

3 Hear O Israel - 4663 Hear O Israel - 466Hear O Israel - 466

4 Hear O Israel - 4664 Hear O Israel - 466Hear O Israel - 466

5 Hear O Israel - 4665 Hear O Israel - 466Hear O Israel - 466

Vr2-1 Hear O Israel - Vr2-1 Hear O Israel - 466466Hear O Israel - 466

Vr2-2 Hear O Israel - Vr2-2 Hear O Israel - 466466Hear O Israel - 466

Vr2-3 Hear O Israel - Vr2-3 Hear O Israel - 466466Hear O Israel - 466

Vr2-4 Hear O Israel - Vr2-4 Hear O Israel - 466466Hear O Israel - 466

Vr2-5 Hear O Israel - Vr2-5 Hear O Israel - 466466Hear O Israel - 466

tag Hear O Israel - tag Hear O Israel - 466466Hear O Israel - 466

Plan to RedeemPlan to RedeemFulfilled in JesusFulfilled in Jesus

John 3:16

“ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life….”

Plan to Redeem Fulfilled in JesusPlan to Redeem Fulfilled in Jesus

Ro 5:6-10 6“You see, at just the right time, when we

were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.

7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Plan to Redeem Fulfilled in JesusPlan to Redeem Fulfilled in Jesus

Ro 5:6-10 7 Since we have now been justified by

his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!

8 For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

How Do We Respond?How Do We Respond?

• When we completely understand this truth …

– Loving Submission

– Asking what God/Jesus expects

What Did Jesus Say?What Did Jesus Say?

– Mt 22:37

Love the Lord with all your

heart, soul, mind & strength!

Why?Why?

• We see and believe what we’ve just talked about.

– 1 John 4:19

We love because he first loved us!

Jesus saidJesus said

– John 14:15

If you love me you will “please me”

obey my commandments.

Just “Doing” NOT OKJust “Doing” NOT OK

1 Co 13:

2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Do all the right things – without love it is nothing

What Does What Does Submitting to God Mean?Submitting to God Mean?

Doing what he wants us to do

out of love for who he is and

what he has done for us! ...

”Pleasing Him.”

Obeying His CommandsObeying His Commands

• Involves a lot of things…

– ”bearing each others burdens, – teaching / encouraging one another, – helping all who are in need, especially our

brothers and sisters, – taking the Good News to the lost…– Praising/Worshipping our Father.

Example – VBSExample – VBS

• All of these things were taking place before/during/after VBS….

– Every facet of our congregation was involved,

• from the oldest to the youngest…• from the most ‘traditional’• to the most ‘contemporary’…

– and it was GOOD!

Change and OpinionsChange and Opinions

• Is our church just like a 1st century church?

• Some things that have changed…– buildings– songs and style of singing– Multiple communion cups– Sunday Schools, etc.

Change and OpinionsChange and Opinions

• Worship content

• Expression of worship

Unity / Liberty / LoveUnity / Liberty / Love

• Perhaps you have heard the saying,

“In matters of faith, Unity.

In matters of opinion, Liberty.

In all things, Love.”

Unity in FaithUnity in Faith

Eph 4:12-13 ….

– 12 to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up

– 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Liberty in OpinionLiberty in Opinion

Ro 14:5-6 …5 One man considers one day more sacred

than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.

6 He who regards one day as special, does so to the Lord. He who eats meat, eats to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who abstains, does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God.

Love in All ThingsLove in All Things

Col 3:14…

And over all these virtues put love,

which binds them all together

in perfect unity.

And finally…And finally…

What will our congregation look like when

we are all ‘submitting to God’

with loving hearts?

John 14:15-17John 14:15-17

“ If you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.”

Galatians 5:22-23Galatians 5:22-23

• “love,

• joy,

• peace,

• patience,

• kindness,

• goodness,

• faithfulness,

• gentleness,

• and

• self-control.”