9780310265986

Transformation
Copyright © 1997 by Willow Creek Association
Requests for information should be addressed to:
Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530
ISBN-10: 0-310-26598-3
ISBN-13: 978-0-310-26598-6
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible: New International
Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of
Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
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Interior design by Rick Devon and Michelle Espinoza
Printed in the United States of America
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S E S S I O N 1 T R A N S F O R M A T I O N
A NEW
HEART
T H E B I G P I C T U R E
There is a very serious heart disease we should all know about.
I call it “the disease of hard-heartedness.” There is also a very
painful but effective cure for this disease.
Many times in the Old Testament we read that God accused the
people of Israel of being hard-hearted. In the New Testament,
Jesus would sometimes tell the religious leaders, and even His
own followers, “Your hearts are so hard!” In the Bible “hardhearted”
refers to the unresponsive, stiff, angry, insensitive,
rebellious, and independent attitude ruling our hearts. This attitude
is first directed toward God, but also toward other people.
Jesus told a parable of a farmer who went out and sowed seeds.
You don’t have to have a green thumb to know that the object
of sowing seed is to get it into fertile soil so it can take root
and produce fruit. Jesus pointed out that often when a farmer
would throw seed, some would land on hard-packed soil.
That seed was wasted; it would never grow. Jesus went on
to explain what He meant by this agricultural story. Some
people’s hearts are impenetrable, hardened, unresponsive,
and callous. The Word of God just bounces off. It doesn’t
even take root.
If I were to nominate a biblical character for the “Iron Heart
Award,” I would submit the man who was crucified next to
Jesus. When Jesus was nailed to the cross, there was a criminal
being executed on His right and another on His left. One was
a repentant thief. In the last moments of his life, he softened
his heart and said, “Oh Lord, would You remember me?” Jesus
said to him, “Today you’ll be with Me in paradise.” But the
other thief, who was being crucified for a life of crime and
violence, had a hard heart. He was minutes from death, inches
from the Savior, but his heart was like stone. He was busy
hurling abuse and insults at Jesus.
The repentant thief called over to the hard-hearted thief and
said, “I can’t believe it. You are minutes away from death and
inches away from the Savior and you’re still hard! Don’t you
fear God?” From all indications of Scripture, the “Iron Heart
Award” would have been presented to that unrepentant thief
on his arrival in hell. And that is what will happen ultimately
to those people who spend their whole lives with an attitude
of hard-heartedness.
A W I D E A N G L E V I E W
1. If you were a spiritual doctor doing a test for hardheartedness,
what are some of the symptoms you
would look for in your examination?
A B I B L I C A L P O R T R A I T
Read Ezekiel 11:17–21; 36:24–28 2. According to Ezekiel, idolatry was a sign of hard-heartedness.
What did idolatry look like in Ezekiel’s day?
What does idolatry look like in our day?
A HARD HEART
Hearts get hard when we habitually say no to God. The very first time you say no to God a little layer
forms around your heart. The second time another layer goes around your heart. The third time
another layer forms, and on and on it goes. A person who ends up saying no to God for a lifetime
ends up with a heart encased by steel.
As a person’s heart grows hard, two things begin to happen. First, the hardness drives them farther
away from God. There is no openness, no sensitivity to spiritual things, no desire to hear God speak. Hard hearts finally
say, “I have no need for God or the things God has to offer.” Second, when a heart grows hard, there is a lack of sensitivity
toward others. Selfishness sets in and generosity is driven away. Other people become commodities, pawns in
the game of life, a means to an end. True love in relationships and care for others is no longer a possibility for people
with hearts lined with steel.
3. In these passages, Ezekiel tells of some specific
changes that are going to happen in the lives of God’s
people as their hearts are softened. What are some of
these changes?
In what ways are these same changes needed in our lives
today if we are going to experience transformed hearts?
S H A R P E N I N G T H E F O C U S
Read Snapshot “A Hard Heart”
4. Describe a time in your life when you experienced
hard-heartedness toward God. How did this impact
your faith and relationship with Him?
5. During a time you were experiencing a hard heart
toward God, what impact did this have on your relationships
with one of the following people?
• A close friend
• A colleague at work
• Your spouse
• A family member
Read Snapshot “A New Heart”
A NEW HEART
God says that if this disease is going to be dealt with, the first step is for the heart to be pierced . . .
stabbed . . . pricked. In the book of Acts we read about the Day of Pentecost when Peter received the
Holy Spirit and began to preach with great power (Acts 2:38). At the end of the message we read that
all of the people who heard were “pierced in their hearts.” They were stabbed with truth from the Word
of God. Hebrews 4:12 says that the Bible is like a razor-sharp, double-edged sword . . . it cuts, stabs,
pierces, and sometimes hurts. But it’s the only hope for a hard heart.
The toughest truth for us to hear, the one that cuts the deepest, is the one we need to hear the most. The Bible tells us
there is a root cause for hard-heartedness. The Bible calls it “sin.” We’re born in it. We’re conceived in it. We have a sin
nature, and we make sinful choices. We all have this heart disease. Romans 6:23 tells us that it is a terminal illness. All
of us are infected with the disease of hard-heartedness toward God and others and we can’t cure ourselves.
The good news is that God has a cure. The cure is miraculous. The cure is 100 percent effective. But, the cure is painful.
No getting around it. The only way to get a new heart is to acknowledge your sin (that your heart is damaged beyond
repair) and to let God forgive you and give you a new heart. There are no bypass surgeries, or simple solutions. It is
going to take a heart transplant if we are going to experience change in our lives. It will be painful, but the new heart you
receive will make all the difference

Excerpted from Transformation: Letting God Change You from the Inside Out by Bill Hybels, Hybels
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.

Interactions	p. 7
Introduction: Letting God Change You from the Inside Out	p. 9
A New Heart	p. 11
A New Mind	p. 19
New Ears	p. 27
A New Voice	p. 35
New Hands	p. 43
A New Spine	p. 51
Leader's Notes	p. 61
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

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Transformation : Letting God Change You from the Inside Out

0310265983

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