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Key Verse: Ephesians 4

Think Different – Live Different

God is in the business of changing how we think. No person can change how we think. Arguing and divisiveness makes us more resolute about our side. God is above all sides and He is not teaming with ‘Us’ to beat ‘Them’. We do not become Christians until we change our minds (repentance). To repent is to change the way we think. Jesus’s first sermon was nine words long (Matthew 4:17).

  Let God be true and every man a liar (Romans 3:4).  

Christians do NOT THINK like non-Christians.

Q. What are some ways of thinking that significantly changed since you became a Christian?

POINT 1: This is your brain on DRUGS.

Ephesians 4:17-18 (ESV) 

Paul is talking about how we think. There is a slippery slop of thinking for unbelievers. Not every drug is a chemical. There are drugs of this world that waste our minds. Pornography, social media, 24 hour cable news, approval of others, and even prescription drugs , etc. We are a nation that will give ourselves over to what feels good and rob our minds.

Q. What is a drug that has robbed your mind or is robbing your mind now?

Ephesians 4:19 (ESV)

Non-believers start with futility and become unable to feel shame. We can get so caught up in something that we don’t feel shame about it. We can become callous. This is a trajectory of rejecting Jesus. Once we become callous, we become more and more darkened and hardened toward God, toward Christians. 

Q. What are some ways your heart may have been hardened because of your way of thinking? 

FACT: Sin is not just an ACT – it has an AFFECT.

Sin is not something we do but it becomes part of our character. It has an affect on us. Sin is something that changes who we are. Sin is not neutral, there is a spiritual magnetism to sin that draws us further into isolation and depression. We can get to a point where we don’t care anymore and become proud about it. We need to challenge ourselves to change our minds. We are not of this world, we march to a different beat of a different drum and His name is Jesus!

If God be fore us, who can be agains us? (Romans 8:31)

Q. What are some affects of sin in your life?

POINT 2: This is your brain SET FREE in Christ.

Ephesians 4:20 (ESV) 

It is not who we are as Christians. There is a learning about Christ and then there is learning Christ. 

Discipleship is not LEARNING FACTS about Jesus. It is KNOWING JESUS 

Christianity is not learning facts. It does not matter if you know the books of the Bible or the seventh plague of Egypt. We need to know Him. We cannot know a person unless we spend time with them such as a spouse, you meet them then you marry them and after many years you still don’t know everything but you learn more about them as the years go by. We learn more about Jesus spending time with Him, being with other Christians, and serving. If we want to build our faith and our life in Christ, we must serve Him.

Q. How has your faith and life been built up by serving in the Body (if you are not serving, what is stopping you)?

Ephesians 4:22-24 (ESV)

Our desires, what we want, are lying to us. Every one of us have deceitful desires. There is an evil part of us that wants to destroy us. That might be why maybe we haven’t won the lottery, got that high paying job, or the disease or struggle might be a tool to bring us closer to Jesus. God wants to change what we want. We need to spend time with Christ, in His world, and with His people in His ministry.

Q. How might you be your own worst enemy (what are some desires you might have that could potentially destroy you)?

Romans 6:16 (ESV)

We either give ourselves to sin or to God and he leads us into the righteous living which results in peace.

POINT 3: This is your LIFE IN CHRIST.

Spending time in with other Christians, in church, and in His word. People who read their Bible 4 days a week can keep their lives free from sinful desires. 

Q. What is a specific example of where reading your Bible had kept you from sinning?

First: Let TRUTH inhabit you.

Ephesians 4:25 (ESV)

Second: Don’t let ANGER enslave you.

Ephesians 4:26-27 (ESV)

It is okay to be angry, dont sin in your anger. We can go to bed angry but not go to bed angry only to think about how we can ‘get’ them.

Q. How have you sinned in your anger?

Third: Don’t let GREED control you.

Ephesians 4:28 (ESV) 

Showing up late to work is stealing, taking that extra long break is stealing. The goal of Christian work is to become a giver not a taker.

Q. In what ways have you let greed control you?

Fourth: Let ENCOURAGEMENT come from you.

Ephesians 4:29 (ESV)

We should be building up not tearing down. We should be speaking life into our friends, spouses, and children not fear and anxiety.

Q. What are some ways you can  or would like to encourage others that you should be but are not (spouse, child, friend, neighbor, teacher, etc.)?

Ephesians 4:30 – 32 (ESV) 

God forgave us, we must forgive others.  We need to stop throwing stones and trying to ‘get’ people.  

MAKE the COMMITMENT – to GIVE your MIND to God, let Him SHAPE it and RENEW it so that you GROW in CHRIST and LOVE His FAMILY.

Challenge 1:

This week be more intentional of the way you act and think.  When angry, do something positive instead of sinning in your anger. Encourage others especially when it may seem difficult.  

Challenge 2: Read your Bible 4 times this week and see how you have been less likely to sin.