Session 7: Dedicate It To God

Where do you get the power to be dedicated? In this episode we look at Jesus's own answer to that important question.

CATCHING UP/LOOKING AHEAD 

What has been most meaningful to you in what we have studied together during these seven weeks? 

KEY VERSE 

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 

Romans 12:1 

DISCOVERY QUESTIONS 

1. Are there ways you’ve discovered that help thankful joy take the lead in your life? 
2. How have you seen purity expressed in what you pursue? 
3. How have you personally experienced the truth that the 
4. greatest joy in life comes not from what you get but from 
5. what you give? 
6. What are some specific places you’d like the group to pray 
7. for as you seek to keep your dedication refreshed? 

LIVING ON PURPOSE 

God’s five purposes for each of us are evangelism, discipleship, fellow- ship, ministry, and worship. In this section, we’ll look at how we can take practical steps to fulfill one of those purposes based on the truths we’ve looked at in this study. 

WORSH I P 

Spend some time this next week reviewing and thanking God for the truths that grow out of the book of Nehemiah. Dedicate yourself to living these truths through the power that God gives in Christ. 

PRAYING TOGETHER 

Pray for one another’s needs.
 As you finish this study, talk about whether there is another 

book you’d like to read together and discuss as a group. 

Creators & Guests

Host

Tom Holladay

Tom Holladay is a teaching pastor at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. Tom’s passion in ministry is to help people discover a love for the Bible and an understanding of God’s truth that changes the way they live. In addition to his pastoral leadership and weekend teaching ministries at Saddleback, he assists Rick Warren in teaching Purpose-Driven Church conferences to Christian leaders all over the world. Books he has written include The Relationship Principles of Jesus, Love Powered Parenting with his wife Chaundel and (with Kay Warren) Foundations: Core Truths to Build Your Life On. He and Chaundel have three children and five granddaughters.

Producer

Saddleback Church

💙 Find your purpose and place at #SaddlebackChurch! 🏠 One family, many locations.

What is Putting It Together Again When It's All Fallen Apart: Saddleback Small Group Series?

Life crises can throw you into a tailspin, a lost job, a failed relationship, a struggling business, a financial mess. Where do you start? How do you pull it together? How do you begin again? Tom Holladay experienced a catastrophe first-hand when a sudden flood in California destroyed his home, his church, and the homes of many church members. Tom and his congregation had to rebuild, and they used the principles in the book of Nehemiah to get back on their feet. Now a teaching pastor at Saddleback Church, Tom will help you discover seven principles for putting it together again that will give you the direction you need to get rolling on that fresh start. Holladay will walk you through seeing every problem as an opportunity, facing the obstacles head on and taking your first step, knowing how to expect and reject opposition, build on your success, and dedicating yourself to the One who rebuilds our souls. The task of starting again can seem impossible. And sometimes you just need to rebuild your confidence and regain a sense of purpose. If you're trying to find the emotional energy, but you just don't have it in you, let Tom Holladay encourage you. He understands how difficult and rewarding the business of rebuilding is.

Download the study guide with each episode. And of course, check out the book "Putting It Together Again When It's All Fallen Apart" by Tom Holladay on Amazon or your favorite bookstore.

Welcome back for our last study together, week seven of these video studies that go along with putting it together again after it's all falling apart. You've been reading this week about dedication, about the power of dedication, God in your life. The question I'd like to talk to you about the next few minutes is where do you get the power to be dedicated? If we know the power of dedication, where do you and I get the power to be dedicated? Jesus had an interesting discussion about this with the religious leaders in his day. In John, chapter two, let me read for you, John. Two, verses 19 to 22. All right. Jesus replied, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. What? Exclaimed, it's taken 46 years to build this temple, and you can rebuild it in three days. But when Jesus said this temple, he meant his own body. After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this, and they believed both the scriptures and what Jesus had said. So he's having a discussion with these Pharisees, these religious leaders out in front of the temple in that day, the Jewish temple, and he says, he destroyed this temple, and I'll raise it up in three days. They thought he meant the physical temple that they were looking at the building. But Jesus is meaning his body, and we know he was raised up in three days. They thought he was talking about a rebuilding project. He was talking about a resurrection power. When you think about the rebuilding projects in your life, make sure you don't get confused and think it's all about the rebuilding projects. It's all about the building, the thing that you want to build. It all starts with resurrection power, the resurrection power of Jesus Christ. Whatever rebuilding project you're facing, you cannot be dedicated to it without his resurrection power, because the power to become dedicated is the power of the resurrection. We're not dedicated to a cause. We're not dedicated to a goal. We're not dedicated to rebuild. We're dedicated to a person, the person of Jesus Christ. So the power to rebuild comes from the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Never forget that, because that's where the power is going to keep coming in your life as you're rebuilding. The strength to be dedicated comes from the resurrection of Christ. Now, the Apostle Paul understood this, and you know the dedication in his life. If you've studied the New Testament at all, he was a dedicated apostle. Paul understood where the power of dedication comes from. So in Philippians 310, he says this I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings. Listen, dedication has nothing to do with willpower. It has everything to do with God's power. Now, I understand in our human plane that you can see different levels of, um, dedication and different people. You know, human dedication based on the kind of willpower that they have. I'm not talking about human dedication. I'm talking about Godly dedication. The dedication that lasts all the way into eternity, the dedication that can face things that no one in this world can face. And true dedication has nothing to do with willpower. It has, uh, everything to do with God's power. And you need God's power. I need God's power in my life. I remember many years ago watching one of the Rose Bowl parades. They have floats that go down and how beautifully decorated they are. And that year, one of the floats ran out of gas and it was stopped. They had to bring out, like, a trolley, a little truck to cart it off so it could keep going. It happened to be the Standard Oil float that ran out of gas. And so it was sort of embarrassing for a gas company that ran out of gas. Well, I looked at that and thought, there's some truth in my life about that. It's embarrassing for a Christian to run out of Christ power, but it happens in my life all the time. It happens in your life all the time. It's so easy for us to start to lean on our power instead of his power. But I'm a Christian. I'm relying on his power. Paul, as he talks here about the power of the resurrection, he hits it something deep in our hearts when he says, I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection, he says, I'm not going to be satisfied with anything less than that. That's dedication. You and I shouldn't be satisfied with anything less than that either. Never be satisfied with a Christian life that is anything less than the life that is motivated and empowered by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. That's the life that he wants for you. Now, uh, that doesn't mean you're not going to be humbled sometimes because you're a human being. That doesn't mean you're not going to say the wrong thing sometimes. Paul certainly did, and every great Christian certainly has. That doesn't mean you're not going to stumble sometimes. The question is, where are you going to keep returning for power? The question isn't whether you're perfect in this life. None of us are. The question is where are you going to get the power that you need for this life? It comes from Jesus Christ, the power that he can give to us. The power of the life of Christ comes from the power of the resurrection of Christ. Now, my question always is, how is this going to happen? How is this going to happen in your life that you live by this kind of power? It's great to talk about dedication, it's great to talk about power. It's great to talk about resurrection power in your life. How are you going to live day by day with resurrection power? It's found in those two words in this verse we just looked at it's found in the words Know Christ. The power to live by. The power of Jesus'resurrection is, as you know, Christ. Whenever you don't feel like being dedicated, and all of us don't feel like being dedicated sometimes get closer to Jesus Christ. Know Christ strengthen your relationship with him. That's where the power comes from. But also whenever you feel like the most dedicated person on the planet, like there is nobody in this world more dedicated than you are, that's when you even need to know Christ even more. Because guess what? The fact that you feel that way probably doesn't come from something you did, but something he did in you. And if you're like me, the times you trip up is when you trust in Him. He gives you the power, and then you think it was your power, and you fall flat on your face because you start depending on your power again. So in those times when you feel like you have no dedication, no Christ, get close to Him. In those times when you feel like you have the greatest dedication, no Christ, get close to Him. That's where the power comes from. So as we close this time together, these seven weeks, talking about what it means to put it together again after it's all falling apart, I can't end with more important words than that. No, Christ. Get closer to him. Let Him give you the power. Let's pray for that together. Our Father, I pray personally, and I ask for each one of us, as we pray together, that you give us the power we need in our lives for dedication. And you help us to realize where it comes from. Not from ourselves, not from those around us. It comes from you, Jesus, to help us to get to know you better and better every day of our lives. To be a disciple, to be a learner from you, is to know you better. To become more like you is to know you better. So, Lord, help us to spend time with you. Help us to talk to you about everything. Let Your words speak into our hearts and lives. We want to build and rebuild in ways that bring glory to you. But that's only going to happen through you, Jesus. Not words that somebody else says about you. Not books, uh, that somebody else has written about you but are personally knowing you. So, Jesus Christ, we want to know you better. We want to love you more. We ask this in Your name. Amen. Thank you. I'm very grateful you joined us for this study. If you enjoy studying Godsworth, I want to encourage you to go to a website. It's called Drivetimedevotions.com. I've studied through their audio studies, not video studies, but I've studied through most of the Bible in this kind of a study, just talking through how you can better know Christ and better live in him. So go to that study if you want to listen to maybe about ten minutes a day, one chapter a week is usually what we go through. Maybe you can listen while you're driving or working around the house and let God's word just get deeper and deeper into your life. Because the only way you're going to know Christ the only way I'm going to know Christ is by letting his words soak into my life. Thanks. Joining us. My prayers for God's blessings in your life.