I AM WHAT I AM
I sometimes hear people say about their past: "I have no regrets, no regrets at all. I wouldn't go back to change a thing, even if I could." When I hear someone say that, I think: How is that possible? How is it possible that an imperfect person, prone to sin like the rest of us, could not have any regrets? That's because we've all done things that any reasonable person should regret.
In today’s scripture Paul went from worst to first; from a pitiful past to an impassioned future. Because of the death and resurrection of Christ for him he was able not only to be forgiven but to forgive himself. Paul, through, the grace of God turned his regrets into a reason to live.
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1 Corinthians 15:3 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. 9 For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me has not been in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
Philippians 3:13 But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 10 I want
I. I Am What I Am – His Grace is Personal to Me
to know Christ
II. I Am What I Am – His Grace Empowers Me
and the power of his resurrection
III. I Am What I Am – His Grace Impassions Me
and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
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➤ 1. RAIDERS OF THE LOST DREAM Acts 2:17; Genesis 12:2; Hebrews 11I. I Am What I Am – His Grace is Personal to Me
to know Christ
II. I Am What I Am – His Grace Empowers Me
and the power of his resurrection
III. I Am What I Am – His Grace Impassions Me
and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
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➤ 2. GOD HAS BIG PLANS FOR YOU Psalm 139:13; Exodus 1:5; John 18:37
➤ 3. IT'S TIME TO MAKE YOUR MOVE Joshua 1; Hebrews 4:1
➤ 4. ALMOST AN ANGEL Luke 4:16-21
➤ 5. MY NAME IS "ROCKY" Matthew 16:13-19
➤ 6. I AM WHAT I AM I Corinthians 15; Philippians 3:10-13
➤ 7. MORE THAN John 21:15-18; 1 John 4:4-16
➤ SERIES HOMEPAGE➤ 7. MORE THAN John 21:15-18; 1 John 4:4-16
