WELCOME
“To take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.” —Ephesians 4:22–24
Once you’ve reset, you can find freedom with a new identity and new purpose in Christ. However, that freedom comes because He renews your life—by giving you a new heart.
WARM-UP
Bad Habits
No one is 100 percent happy with the things they say, think, and do. Changing those things and living in a new way, however, usually means breaking some bad habits.
Just for fun, everyone stand up and be prepared to get honest about your bad habits!
If something listed is one of your bad habits is listed, take a seat. We’ll keep going through bad habits until everyone is seated or we have one person left standing. Depending on how quickly it goes, we might play the game again.
(Examples: picking your nose, biting your fingernails, oversleeping, belching in public, forgetting to brush your teeth at night, misplacing important items like your keys or wallet, staring at people, etc.)
Q: Why do you think it’s so hard to break bad habits?
Q: What are some things you’ve done to break bad habits in your life?
WORKOUT
NEW HEART
After his reset, Peter went through a challenging process of seeking to understand God’s truth.
Shortly before Jesus was crucified, Peter didn’t believe Jesus when He said he would die (Matthew 16:21–23), he cut off the ear of a soldier who was arresting Jesus (Luke 22:47–53) and denied knowing Jesus three times (Matthew 26:69–75).
When Jesus was arrested to be crucified, all the disciples, except John, fled in fear. Three days later, Jesus was raised from the dead and appeared to His closest followers.
One time (John 21:1–19), Peter was fishing when Jesus arrived and built a fire to make breakfast. Much like when they first met, Jesus performed a miracle and Peter caught more fish than he could handle. Peter ran to meet Jesus. Despite Peter sinning against Jesus through his denial, Jesus welcomed and restored Peter, calling him to share the Gospel with the world.
Peter’s new heart and new purpose would lead him to tell many others about Jesus. Many years later, Peter would write these powerful words:
“Blessed be the god and father of our lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” —1 Peter 1:3
REAL CHANGE
A reset can help change athletes in areas like training, practice, nutrition and rest. Shifting your mindset will cause these changes to happen.
Your spiritual life is the same. Negative attitudes, stressful thoughts, bad habits, even how you approach each day can all change.
Ezekiel 36:26 says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
Only God can give you a new heart and does when you ask Him for forgiveness for your sins and accept His gift of salvation through Jesus going to the cross.
Then, you can begin to see your life transformed—just as God’s Word reveals in Ephesians 4:22–24.
WRAP-UP
Q: How might this new heart change your life?
Q: What might be stopping you from receiving a new heart from God?
Everyone has things they want to be made new in their lives. Let God through Jesus make your heart new. As we close in prayer, let’s ask Him to do just that.
(Prayer and break the huddle)