Welcome
-Thank Dad for the opportunity to speak
Fresh look
Have you ever met someone, who just sees life as a drag? Everything’s just dull to
them, and there’s never anything good or exciting happening? Maybe your
like….”that’s me”. How do you help someone like that, or help yourself, if that’s
you? One of the cures for a dull outlook on life is to take a “fresh look” at life.
What do I mean? Taking a “fresh look”, means to take something old, and view it
as brand new, or to see things at a deeper level.
For example, taking a fresh look at your job will help you see the value of being
able to provide for you and your family. Taking a fresh look at your marriage will
help you rediscover the person you fell in love with, and if your not married, taking
a fresh look at singleness will help you see that is not the end of the world, but an
opportunity to experience life on your own terms.
A fresh look at these things are great, but the ultimate fresh look at life, comes
when you enter into a relationship with Jesus. You never see life the same way
again, after that. For example, where people had little value to you, now you call
them brothers and sisters, where the darkness of our sin was pleasurable, now the
joy of His presence is our pleasure. As great as this is, even believers need a “fresh
look”, at their relationship with Jesus, or else the relationship becomes
“something I’ve seen before”, or as blues legend BB King once said, “the thrill is
gone”.
 You know what I mean, that place where getting into Gods word is a chore,
worship becomes a sing-along, and sermons go in one ear, and out the other
without any action in our lives. In the life of the believer, this is called apathy.
Which by definition means to have a lack of passion. It is this passionless
apathy that keeps the church from moving forward, and being a light in the
world.
o So how does the church overcome this? The answer isn’t going to be
found in a new trendy speaker, or another Christian how to book, but
by taking a “fresh look” at the glory of God.
What is the glory of God? It’s basically all that God is, His character, His attributes,
and His greatness.
I believe this message is important for today, because taking a fresh look at the
glory of God, will not only motivate us to grow in our relationships with Him, but
cause the church to be a light in the world
 Today we will be looking at three ways that Gods glory causes us to RISE,
SHINE, and MAKE DISCIPLES
Please turn to Is 60. We will be looking at verses 1-3.
Before we jump in, we need to look at Isaiah chapters 58-59 to get some
Background on Isaiah 60
 Isaiah 58-60 can practically be one large chapter. It starts out with a question
that the Jews ask God in 58. They were trying to get God to respond to them,
by fasting. After some time, and no response, they ask God in V3-4 “why
have we fasted; and you have not seen? Why have we afflicted our souls and
you take no notice”.
o Israel is asking a familiar question…. What’s the point of all these
religious practices, if God doesn’t respond?
 In Chapter 59:1-2, God answers these religious Jews, and says, “behold, the
Lords hand is not shortened that it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy that is
cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your
sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear”
o God shows the Jews that He isn’t ignoring them, but exposes their true
heart by showing them that their sins had separated them from God
o In the same chapter, God looks for someone to intercede for the
people, but He finds no one, so God Himself steps in to redeem them.
 Isaiah 60 is the climax of the three chapters where God finally redeems His
people and His glory causes the nation of Israel to Rise
That where we pick up our first point (Read v1)
A fresh look at the glory of God, will causes us to RISE
What will it cause us to Rise from?
RISE from Sin
 When you’ve done something that grieves Gods heart, have you ever asked
the question, “how can I get past this, or how can I walk in victory after so
many defeats”?
o Paul dealt with this battle in his own life, and he wrote about in Romans
7. In this chapter Paul talks about the battle between doing what
honors God, and resisting the flesh. In the end of the chapter Paul gives
us the answer to rising above our sin. He says in Romans 7:24-25 - O
wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
 Paul is telling us that the answer to a life of victory is found in
Jesus.
 Here are three ways that we can be sure of this victory
 1) Jesus has paid the debt of our sin, and is now our
advocate to the father.
o 1 John 2:1-2 My little children, these things I write to
you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we
have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our
sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole
world.
 2) He has given us the power we need to live a life of victory
o 2 Peter 1:3-4 His divine power has given to us all things
that pertain to life and godliness, through the
knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,
4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great
and precious promises, that through these you may be
partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the
corruption that is in the world through lust.
 3) His is with us
o Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not
dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes,
I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous
right hand.
o To sum it up, because of what Jesus has done for us we can rise in
victory!
 Here’s the thing, when we rise, we don’t just rise for ourselves,
but we rise with purpose for those watching us
RISE with Purpose
 When God speaks here in verse 1, He isn’t just addressing Israel, as His
children, but He is addressing them as His representatives to the rest of the
world. 1 Peter 2:9 – says But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of
Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.
 Exodus 19:6 And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
o Israel couldn’t stay in the depths of their sin, they had to trust in God
and rise. As a result, they showed the world what Gods character was
like. That He is merciful and wont give up on His people
 This is still true today. Last week Pastor Sandy Adams said, “Gods
character could be riding on how we respond to adversity in our
lives”.
Simply meaning that the way we respond to difficult things in our
lives will either convince people, that there is a God or that there
isn’t one, or that He doesn’t really care.
o Think about this, there are people who are watching
your life, people who see you as a representative of
who God is, in their lives. You might be thinking “I
haven’t been a very good representative of who God is
to those around me”, but that’s ok, because if you’ve
fallen, now you get to show them Gods character by
getting up again
 Christians ARENT PERFECT, so stop thinking that
this life takes perfection, it’s a journey of ups and
downs, but JESUS is walking with us, picking us
up, and strengthening us to the end
Taking a fresh look at the glory of God will cause us to rise from the depths of
our sin, and reflect the character of God to those around us. When we do this
we shine (Read v2)
A fresh look at the glory of God causes us to SHINE
How important is light? Scientifically, we know that light is necessary for life on
Earth, as almost all energy used, by life is derived from the sun. In addition,
without light, the Earth would be completely cold and dark, as even the moon gets
its glow from reflecting the sun.
 What is true in the world of science is also true in the in the spiritual. We
need light. Jesus said in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world. He who
follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
o When we gave our lives to Jesus, we become light. It’s like an old
flashlight that you finally find batteries for, and now that light is on and
ready to shine. Jesus goes on to say in Matthew 5:16 - Let your light so
shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your
Father in heaven. Here are two places that we are called to shine the
brightest
 In our environment – The world apart from the light is in
darkness, and enemies of God, destined for His wrath. The world
trades the truth of God for the lie that they’re good, and deny
what’s awaiting them after death. It’s in this world, that is full of
racial tensions, political craziness, injustice, pain, and violence,
that we are called to shine.
 But how? Like Jesus said, by our good works. Letting your
light shine doesn’t mean being on staff at a church, or
making sure your church attendance is on point, but its
shining where God has put you, whether at your job, home,
or community.
o Ask yourself, are there people in my life that are in
need, whether financially, physically, or emotionally?
There not there by chance, God has put them there so
that they would see the light in you, and be drawn to
Father
 In our culture – For the believer, we shine the light by engaging
culture, not by being ignorant of it. When we look at history, the
people who had the greatest impact in the world were people
who were engaged in the culture.
 One of my favorite rap-artist is Lecrae. He’s won Grammy
awards in the music industry, but more importantly, he’s a
Christian. Lecrae, is a great example of what it looks like for
a Christian to engage the culture. In the release of his 7th
album “Anomaly” in 2014, which was the first album to top
both the Billboard 200 and the Gospel chart simultaneously.
When asked, what the album was about? Lecrae, said this,
"Conceptually, it’s about how I deviate from the norm, just
being a product of Hip-Hop, but yet staying true to who I am
and what I’m about, even though the culture is going its own
route. It’s saying ‘Man, I don’t care. I’ll be different
o So as a Christian, to shine in the culture, it’s really not
complicated. God has already made you unique; He’s
already changed your life, so go out into the world and
shine. Just be who God has made you to be.
 Charles Spurgeon once said, “The object of our
shining is not that men may see how good we
are, nor even see us at all, but that they may see
grace in us and God in us, and cry, 'What a Father
these people must have”!
A fresh look at the glory of God will not only cause us to Shine in our environment
and in the culture, but engage in discipleship (Read v3)
A fresh look at the glory of God causes us to make disciples
When we shine in our environment and in the culture, people will be drawn to the
light. Kind of like, the light at the end of a tunnel, and when they come, we must
be ready to not only receive them, but disciple them.
o Discipleship is simply one believer showing another the ropes, so they can
show someone else.
Here are some key foundational stepping stones, every believer needs when they
come to Christ. These things can be taught, but are most effectively applied when
discipleship is taking place.
o Show them how deep Gods grace is
 Show them that their sins really are gone, and that they are a new
creation, because the enemy will try to convince them that they
haven’t changed
 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 says - Therefore, from now on, we
regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have
known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him
thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have
become new.
o We aren’t even to judge people by who they used to
be, they aren’t that person anymore, they are a new
creation, that’s why its called “born again”.
o Show them how to stand
 1 Peter 5:8 says - Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the
devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
 Just because people come to Jesus, that doesn’t mean it’s the
end of the story, its just the beginning. They need to be
trained on how to stand against the attacks of the enemy.
o They must know what Paul meant, when he said In
Ephesians 6:11 - Put on the whole armor of God, that
you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
o Ultimately, discipleship is all about relationship.
 Those that come to the light of Christ need people to walk with
them through these things, but these relationships can never
happen, if we come to church and don’t connect with people. It’s
an intentional action that we are called to, and if everyone
applied it to their lives, with just one person, we could change the
world
 Begin to pray and ask the Lord who he would like you to
disciple.
In conclusion
When we take a fresh look at the glory of God, What does it cause us to do?
o It causes us to RISE - from our sin, and to live with purpose.
o It causes us to SHINE – impacting our environment and the culture.
o It causes us to MAKE DISCIPLES – Building relationships, and walking with
those who come to the light
o To sum all of this up, taking a fresh look at the Glory of God, causes us
to take action, but how do we get a fresh look at the glory of God?
 In The book of Exodus Moses saw God single handedly free the
nation of Israel out of slavery. He saw God care for the young
Israel by providing for them, leading them, and protecting them,
as they journeyed through the wilderness, but Moses wasn’t
satisfied with that, and in Exodus 33:18 he cried out to God
“PLEASE SHOW ME YOU’RE YOUR GLORY”!
o Even though Moses saw those things he still wasn’t
satisfied, and wanted more.
o Many times, this hunger for more of God is lost in
the church, because we become content with norm
of Christianity, the “I’ve seen it before”, stuff.
o We go to church, we know some scripture, and
think were good with that. But God never drew us
to the light, so that we would get used to what
normal feels like. His desire for us is to encounter
new depths in our relationship with, to never be
content with where we are spiritually but to desire
more of Him.
Do you have a dull outlook on your walk with God? Then ask Him for a fresh look
at His glory, that will take you deeper than you’ve been before
Maybe you’ve never known God and your tired of your outlook on life, and you
want change, it starts by asking Him into your life.
Pray…