Renewed And Refreshed Hearts Series

“Heart Conditions: A Renewed and Refreshed Heart”

Introduction:

A businessman dragged himself home and barely made it to his chair before he dropped, exhausted. His sympathetic wife was right there with a tall cool drink and a comforting word.

"My, you look tired," she said. "You must have had a hard day today. What happened to make you so exhausted?"

"It was terrible," her husband said, "The computer broke down and all of us had to do our own thinking."

It is so easy to get discouraged and worn out as we live out our faith. Sometimes I get weary and tired and need to be refreshed, renewed and rejuvenated.

I wonder if Moses ever got weary of what God had called him to do. I imagine it could be discouraging nine times going before Pharaoh and demanding him to let his people go and nine times being told no. I imagine Moses got tired and weary of what he was called to do. I wonder if when in the desert with the Israelites if he ever got tired of wandering aimlessly, I wonder if he ever got tired of people’s complaining. I am sure he was tired and weary of what he was supposed to do. I wonder how he found refreshing.

I believe that we can be sure that even Jesus needed times of renewal. Many times he had to withdraw away from everyone else and spend time in prayer. Jesus got weary sometimes, but he never let that discouragement hinder him from doing what he was sent to do. We know that Jesus prayed for renewal in the Garden before he was arrested. Jesus prayed, “Father take this cup from me, yet not my will, but your will be done”. Jesus found refreshing and renewal in the midst of a world of discouragement.

I believe that we can be sure that most people that we read about in the scriptures became tired and weary of doing the work of the Lord. Do you ever feel overwhelmed? Sometimes it seems like we as the church have so much to do, and we can easily get weary and tired. When we are weary and tired, we are less effective in the Kingdom because of the discouragement we may be experiencing.

I will admit I at times get discouraged and need to be refreshed. Perhaps today we as a church need to be refreshed, renewed and rejuvenated so that we can be more effective in the Kingdom.

There is nothing wrong with being weary and discouraged, but it only wrong for us to be content with that state. I know there are a lot of things that can tear you down and discourage you. People can be discouraged easily. People can be discouraged because they are discouraged because of things that have or have not gone on in the church. People can need renewal because they are worn out from a past of working too hard. We as a church need renewal so that we can be more effective servants.

I believe that we can read in scripture about people who needed renewal and new strength. I believe that we can find ways to be renewed and refreshed so we can serve the Lord fervently. My encouragement through this message is not to give up, stay strong, and serve the Lord diligently. If you need refreshing I hope that together we can be refreshed.

Text: Galatians 6:7-10

I. Be Refreshed we are Forgiven

I know that we may be tired, we may be discouraged and we may be weary of serving God, but there is good news for the tired. There is good news for those who need refreshing. The best way to be refreshed is to be reminded that our sins have been forgiven. It seems that sometimes that phrase, “we are forgiven of our sins” becomes so cliché to Christians. I know that we have been forgiven of our sins, but there is really good news in that.

A Sunday school teacher had just concluded her lesson and wanted to make sure she had made her point. She said, "Can anyone tell me what you must do before you can obtain forgiveness of sin?" There was a short pause and then, from the back of the room, a small boy spoke up. "Sin," he said.

For years before Jesus came people tried to find a means to have their sins forgiven, so they would offer up sacrifices of animals on the altar. That did not wash their sins away it only pushed them back another year. The people of that time waited expectantly for the Messiah because they wanted forgiveness of sins. We need to realize that our sin is a big deal. It is something we should be concerned about. God is a Holy God, and we know that the Bible teaches us that it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God. The reason for this is not because God is mean, but it is because we are sinners, and because of our sin we cannot come into the presence of a Holy God. That is what it means to be lost; it means to be separate from God for eternity. Without the forgiveness of our sins we cannot enter Heaven. There is good news for us today. Jesus came as a perfect sacrifice to remove our sins once and for all. Our sins have been forgiven if we have been believed, and obeyed through baptism. What good news that is. It is not some little phrase that we use, but there is true power in knowing our sins are forgiven. With our sins forgiven God does not remember our sins any longer, and we who were contaminated and made unholy by sin, can now enter the presence of God because our sins have been forgiven.