August 24th & 28th, 2022
The Art of Being Unordinary
Billy Graham
Dear, dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!
—2 Corinthians 6:11-13 (MSG)
1 Peter 2:9 ESV But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
—1 Peter 2:9 (ESV)
Live uncompromising in our character
Uncompromising in our character = Being unwilling to make concessions or compromises in order to be accepted or to fit in.
“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but not everything is constructive.
—1 Corinthians 10:23 (NIV)
How inconvenienced are you willing to be in order to live without compromise?
Unordinary people live set apart with uncompromised character
Live with an open hand
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
—Colossians 1:16 (ESV)
“If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine.
—Psalm 50:12 (ESV)
Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
—Deuteronomy 8:17-18 (ESV)
1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ESV Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
—1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)
How tightly are you holding onto the things in your life?
Are you allowing God to access the things that are His?
Unordinary people live set apart with open hands
Live with purpose
Set apart people are set apart for a purpose! What is your purpose?
“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
—Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV)
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
—Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV)
We need to be people who rise up with purpose, with open hands, and strong character. Because that is how we can be set-apart and that is how we can live an unordinary life.
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Next Steps:
1. Today, I give my life to Jesus for the first time.
2. I have been compromising my character and I see the need to change
3. I choose to live my life with an open hand
4. I will begin praying and seeking the Lord for what my specific purpose is