Lovin' Tellin' The Story

This is a follow up to the other post by the same name. Specifically, I want to let the scripture do most of the talking this time. I think it can bring much heavier conviction than I ever could. Jeremiah 2:13 for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. 18:7-10, 12 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. And if at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will build and plant it, and if it does what is evil in my sight, not listening to my voice, then I will relent of the good that I had intended to do to it...But they say, "That is in vain! We will follow our own plans, and will every one act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart...

Sermon given 11-2-08 This not actually how it came out but this is what I was working from for the actual sermon. Have you ever heard the phrase “We’ve won the battle but not the war”? For instance, the Confederates won several battles during the Civil War but ultimately lost the war. The Germans and Japanese and Italians won many battles in World War Two but they ultimately lost the war. The same goes for nearly every conflict that has ever taken place in the history of mankind, even the losers win once in a while. I believe the same thing happens to Christians many, many times. We claim victory over death and Hell but we don’t claim the same victory over this life. It is as if we don’t seem to understand that Christ came to give us, not only salvation, but a “new life” in Him. That is, a total transformation of every part of our life. It’s not just that we get to go to Heaven now but that He has won us victory over the everyday stuff. I don’t know if this type of victory is somethi...