Ephesians 4:17-24

So who do you need to be good? Patrick Odum sees a billboard by an atheistic and agnostic group that says many are good without God and he decides he is barely tolerable with God, so there's no hope for him without God!

"Dear Father, righteous and holy God, Help me never to be tempted to live as worldly people live: futile in their thinking - darkened in their..."

"Dear Father, righteous and holy God, Enable me to put away completely my old human nature - the former lifestyle corrupted by deceitful desires. Help..."

"With the Lord's authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused. Their minds are full of darkness; they..."

"But [living immorally] isn't what you learned about Christ. Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw..."

"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the..."

"Instead [of going back to our old way of worldly living], let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be..."

You were taught...to be made new in the attitude of your minds... - Ephesians 4:22-23

Where in the world did those horrible computer viruses come from anyway? Sin is like a virus Satan has designed to appear harmless, infect us, spread, and render everything useless and destroy everything.

Can anything good come from rap music? Can a Christian father learn a lot about faith from his rappin' son and the rap he wrote to be sung at church?

"Dear Precious Disciple, Paul beautifully described the Father's grace in the first part of his letter to the Ephesians. He emphasized that the..."

A powerful image of renewal! Pasquale Mingarelli shares pictures and a Bible study to help us remember that spring is the time for renewal

How do we survive in a place and time like this? Phil Ware talks about being stuck in the Land of In-between and how hard it is and some core ideas to take with you as you find yourself in that kind of place.

"You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires..."

"...be made new in the attitude of your minds... "

"...and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

Inspirational illustration of Ephesians 4:22 -- You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires ...

Inspirational illustration of Ephesians 4:24 -- ...and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Jesus calls us beyond the narrow caricatures of grace. Phil Ware continues his series called UNPREDICTABLE about Jesus and his love and grace and call to follow him in holiness and reminds us that grace calls us from sin and death and to a life of holiness.

So what are you doing holding on to that in your heart? We hang on to so much unnecessary and unhelpful stuff that we need to let go and forgive.

"Instead [of living by your corrupt sinful nature], let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God —..."

Not only can we begin the New Year as a fresh start, but we can also be made new — from the inside out — each day as we follow Jesus! Demetrius Collins and Phil Ware lead us in virtual worship through words and music using YouTube videos and inviting us to continually be made new from the inside out.

When giving up something is winning for everyone! Rubel Shelly tells about the Ike story that touches the heart and reminds us what sports are supposed to be about.

So what's the big problem with all this self stuff? When we put self in the middle of everything, then everything becomes about I, me, my, and mine, and not about God and we mess up our self-absorbed lives.

We've allowed our modern definition of faith to be drained of depth and turned into a shallow kiddie wading pool of little more than mental assent. Phil Ware reminds us that faith as understood in the New Testament was much more robust than what we often call faith today.