Pastor Terren Anderson

Good morning. It’s an honor to be here today. We must give tanks to pastor Gail, pastor Brian, for the invitation to come and be here with you today. We love the work that they do, you are pastored by two incredibly anointed, gifted individuals that are having an impact all over the world. Give your pastors a big hand today.
Our opening text this morning is Romans 8:19-21. “For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.” There are a few words in this verse that stand out to me.
The first one is “Creation”, the meaning being creature or the original formation, the original design. Psalm 139:14 says, “I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” That’s you and me. In Ephesians 1:4 it says, “For he chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight, with an unstained innocence.” That’s good, that’s good news for us. And why is that important? We got to go way back to Genesis. Adam and Eve – they messed up. Adam and Eve were told not to eat from a certain tree, and like the enemy of our minds does, he tempted them, and convinced them to go ahead and try. Then their eyes were opened, to a life they were never meant to know, and they began to experience what our text said, was futility. They saw vanity, or they were devoid of truth. The enemy of their soul, worked to convince them, they no longer knew the truth. John 8:32 says, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” Jesus also called the enemy, the enemy of our mind, in that same chapter, “The father of lies.” There cannot be any father without a seed, so he likes to plant a seed right here in our minds, to make you think, that you are less than what you are. Our opening text said, that ‘they were exposed to futility by him’. I always believed, that ‘by him’ was God. But it wasn’t God, it’s the inner narration in our minds. It’s the two parties, that are in opposition, to each other. We all have dual minds. We have a Spirit of God mind and we have a flesh carnal mind. In Romans 8:6, says, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” I sure prefer life and peace. How about you? Now he said in our opening text, “That we would experience His glory.” The glory of God is His thoughts and opinion about you. So, He is saying that you have an original form that I created in you, before you were born. A form that goes beyond any lie that can be planted in your mind. And this is where it gets really good. My original form and your original form, when we come together, manifests and reveals His Light. And all of creation is waiting to see it. They want to see the hope you have, the love you’ve experienced, and the light that is in you. John 1:5 says, “And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” Darkness thought it had won when Jesus gave up His life and I would have never known. When we let our light shine, it causes those who are in darkness, to awaken from a distorted lie, back to their original design. You are not the sum of your worst mistakes, you are not the label of your abuse, you are not who abandoned you. But you are God’s sons and daughters. In 2 Corinthians 5:20-21 it says, “Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” Did you know, that when you believe in God, and His love, you are in Him an He is in you. You become His sons and daughters. You are the light of the world, you are the temple of His Spirit, everything that He is and nothing that He is not, lives in you. And that is the Good News. That means we are taken back, to the original form and that is what creation is crying out to see. So, what are you waiting for? Show them, tell them, let your light shine. Tell someone your story and never ever forget, God is in us, God is with us, God is for us and He loves us. Amen.