04/24/11 - King Size Life - Pastor Tony Ashmore

Pastor Tony Ashmore teaches on "King Size Life" in this Sunday service.

King Size Life
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, April 24, 2011

www.mylifegatechurch.com


Sermon Notes:

King Size Life
1 Timothy 6:19 “By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.”

Ephesians 5:14 “Therefore He says: “ Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.”
Big Idea: Are we living the rich and satisfying life Jesus paid the price for us to have or are we living below our potential?  Even if our life is sweet, is it Big Life, King Size Life, or is it the miniature, sample size? 
Jesus came to fix our broken lives.  Do we recognize true life?  Have we settled for less?  Does the life we live look like the one He died to give us?  He rose from the dead—have we?  Let’s arise with Jesus this Easter to a higher level of life. We might even think our life is the best it can be, that it’s pretty good and couldn’t get any better.  Or maybe we have grown accustomed to life below God’s standards and, without even realizing it, we have accepted lower standards.  Have we bought into the old saying, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.”  Maybe it is broken and we just don’t see it.  Or maybe we know it’s broken but have quit expecting anything better.  Either way, Easter, the resurrection of Jesus, is all about God invading our lives to show us again what life could and should be.  It’s all about God upsizing our lives to King Size. 

Jesus’ keys to King Size Life:
Mark 12 (the 1st story Jesus tells) A story about a loving landowner who has to go away so he sets all the people on his land up to have a great life.  Instead, through a series of bad choices, the people end up destroyed.  In this foundational story, Jesus gives us some keys to living the Blessed Life.
-   Vs. 1: The Landowner sets everyone up to win, providing everything they need to succeed.  Note he also provided a watch tower—indicating that great life must be guarded, King Size life is the target of thieves (John 10:10)

-   Vs. 2-9: “But the tenant farmers said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’” Don’t take ownership, be a steward.  Treat everything, every part of life, as if it belongs to the Lord, because it does.  Taking ownership turns us into greedy hoarders who begin to believe there is not enough so we have to become selfish to protect our interests.  Being a steward keeps us living generously, recklessly loving others and being loved.

-   Vs. 10-17: (religious leaders seek to trap Jesus) “The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone. This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see.”  Always understand King Size Life is ours solely because of Jesus, not because of our performance—our ability to keep the rules.  It’s not about keeping a bunch of rules and regulations so we can be ‘good enough’ to have the King Size life—it is about having a relationship with the King, the giver of King Size life.   Can’t have King Size life without a King Size King—the King of Kings!

-   Vs. 18-24:  “Jesus replied, “Your mistake is that you don’t know the Scriptures, and you don’t know the power of God.”  We need to know the King Size promises given in God’s Word.  We need to make them ours, not just see them as some vague sacred writings that are impersonal and untouchable.  The Bible is a love letter written to each of us by the King.  Believing God can King Size your life begins with knowing His Word for yourself.  The more it becomes part of you, the more you know and see the King’s power at work in your life.

-   Vs. 25-27 “So he is the God of the living, not the dead. You have made a serious error.”  Don’t buy into the lie that God is distant, detached or untouchable.  Those living King Size life know He is with them, that He is actively involved in their lives and are listening for His whispers in their ears.  God’s not dead, and He is not sitting idly by just hoping things work out for us.  He is as close as you want Him to be.  We each have as much of Jesus in our lives as we want.  Living King Size life means we can’t get enough of Him and invite Him into every aspect of our life.  No matter if your life is great or if your life stinks, no matter if you have wasted your life and know it, or think you have done well and take responsibility for it, no matter if you are living for God every day, the story of Easter—the very real historical facts of those events 2000 years ago—are proof God wants us to have the King Size life Jesus died to give us.  Don’t settle for the trial size, the miniature version of life.  Get the King Size version—enough life for you and enough life to share with others.

Check out Jamye’s story of trading up, upsizing her life to King Size.


Decision Point:

This is not a hoax, not some religious junk—Jesus is not a way, a truth, a life—He is THE WAY, THE TRUTH, THE LIFE.  He came to give that life to us, not some counterfeit version of life—real life, rich and satisfying life. 

Peter: Crucified upside down.  Andrew crucified. James beheaded.  John exiled.  Matthew speared to death.  Nathanel beaten and crucified.  Philip crucified.  Thomas speared to death.  Simon crucified.  James stoned to death.  Thaddeus stoned to death. 

No hoax—facts.  History.  Men who knew Jesus was THE WAY, THE TRUTH and THE LIFE.  Men who would not settle for anything less.  Men who told us in the words they left us that King Size life is available to everyone through Jesus Christ and it is the only life worth living for because it is the only life worth dying for. 

Mark 11:22 Message “Jesus was matter-of-fact: "Embrace this God-life. Really embrace it, and nothing will be too much for you.”