Change: Jesus Changes the Story

[0:00] I was slightly surprised that maybe we were a bit more materialistic in this church than I thought we were. I thought we might have things like a secure job or work that I enjoyed or a nice group of friends or, you know, something like that or a good church.

[0:15] And I said rule out God, didn't I? Anyway, so lots of people have a life where it's sort of in order and they've got these goals and these things where they feel fulfilled.

[0:26] And then maybe at some time they think actually there's more to life than this. I realised that actually maybe they do need God in their life.

[0:40] Maybe they start attending a church. Maybe they start attending a church or bump into someone who's talking about Alpha. Or have a Christian friend at work or standing next to them in the football crowd.

[0:58] And they think, yeah, I need God somewhere in my life. And they try and attach him to their life. Maybe even we as Christians have done that. We've got to the point where we think our lives are nicely ordered.

[1:10] Going in the right direction. We're where we want to be. We think we're where God wants us to be. We're doing what we enjoy doing. We're doing what we think God wants us to do. But God has become a bit of an add-on.

[1:22] And there's no obvious place for him where he fits. Wherever you put him... Wherever you might put him doesn't quite look right.

[1:39] Now when God comes into your life, he's not going to say, everything's great, carry on as you are, I'm here for you when you need me. He's God.

[1:50] He knows you better than you know yourself. He created your innermost being. And he might say, despite how comfortable you feel at the moment, you need to reorder your life.

[2:04] You need to make things a bit different. And I want you to do things differently now. So he might come in and do something that reorders the life you're living.

[2:19] And makes it something that looks a bit different. Not completely different. But just a bit different in some way. And he might say, some of these he might take away.

[2:34] Some of them might stay where they are. And he says, I want to reorder your life because what's really important is that you change your life around so that I can be in the middle and central to all that you do.

[2:57] You may also notice, just a subtle thing, that when you put God at the centre of your life, your life has become bigger. Just briefly, to build on some of the changes that people had.

[3:13] God may not want to change your name because there's an awful lot of paperwork changing your passport and your ID cards and the such like.

[3:25] But he may want you to feel as though you have a new name. Or he may want other people to recognise that you have a godly name. Lots of us won't be fathers of multitudes and even fewer exalted fathers probably or be called princess.

[3:45] But maybe we might be known as one who wrestles with God because of our prayer life. Maybe we might be known as the listener because we listen to the concerns and the worries and the anxieties of our brothers and sisters.

[4:00] Or we might be known as the rock because we've become dependable and trustworthy. We might be known as the Lord is righteous because we stand up for justice for the oppressed and the underdog.

[4:26] We might, because of our circumstances or things that have happened to us, feel bitter or angry towards God. But he wants our demeanour to change so that people will look at us and say, that is a delightful person, that's a pleasant person to be with despite all the difficulties they've had and gone through in their lives.

[4:52] Moses had his role changed twice. He was a prince in the palace and then he became a shepherd. What might be a bit of a downturn in fortunes, but he might have thought, well, this is an easier life in some respects, away from the politics of the palace.

[5:11] But then he became a leader again. Peter was just going about his work and was called into a different role. David was just a shepherd and he was called to be a king.

[5:23] Gideon, just a wheat farmer, called to become a military leader. Paul, the persecutor, became the proclaimer. Now some of those were doing the jobs they'd been trained for.

[5:39] And within that training they found something that when God changed their role, their life, they could bring into that future life. I don't know if God is challenging you on what your role or your job or your current situation is and calling you to something different.

[5:59] But he is calling you to put him at the centre so that the things that he wants to change in you can be changed and through us the things in the world that need to be changed can be changed by us in Christ.

[6:18] Let's put him