On this night we opened with a table discussion which lead directly into a word delivered by brother Heath Rudd on how we’re called to live a transformed life. Even though you accept salvation through Jesus, temptation and sin still exists. As believers, one of the most powerful weapons against sin in your life is to take up your metaphorical cross and follow the example of Jesus in how you live and the decisions you make. Because we have received salvation, we should fight the ways of the world from a position of victory, not to achieve victory. In Jesus, we’ve already won.

Psalm 1:1-6
1. Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.
2. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.
3. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season.  Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.
4. But not the wicked!  They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.
5. They will be condemned at the time of judgment.  Sinners will have no place among the godly.
6. For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.

Colossians 2:20-21
20. You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, 21. “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”?

Colossians 3:1-14
1. Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.  2. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.  3. For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.  4. And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
5. So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you.  Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires.  Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.  6. Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming.  7. You used to do these things when your life was still part of this world.  8. But now is the time to get rid of anger, rage, malicious behavior, slander, and dirty language.  9. Don’t lie to each other, for you have stripped off your old sinful nature and all its wicked deeds.  10. Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.  11. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
12. Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  13. Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you.  Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.  14. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.

Luke 9:23
Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.

Romans 7:14-25
14. So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good.  The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin.  15. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.  16. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.  17. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
18. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.  I want to do what is right, but I can’t.  19. I want to do what is good, but I don’t.  I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.  20. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.
21. I have discovered this principle of life, that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong.  22. I love God’s law with all my heart.  23. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind.  This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.  24. Oh, what a miserable person I am!  Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?  25. Thank God!  The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.  So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

Romans 8:1-17
1. So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.  2. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.  3. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.  So God did what the law could not do.  He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have.  And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins.  4. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
5. Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.  6. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death.  But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.  7. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will.  8. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.
9. But you are not controlled by your sinful nature.  You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you.  (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)  10. And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God.  11. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.  And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
12. Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.  13. For if you live by its dictates, you will die.  But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live.  14. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.
15. So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves.  Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.  Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”  16. For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.  17. And since we are his children, we are his heirs.  In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory.  But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.