Star Wars - "The Power of the Dark Side"

The power of the Dark Side is a sinister force that cannot be used for anything other than evil. Yet even despite that great power it is limited, it's limited in the sense that it cannot overcome someone unless they succumb to it, unless they give into it, such as Anakin did.
There is the ability for everyone to resist the power of the dark side.
And we know, we can see that there is evil all around us ( terrorism, violent crimes, to even slander, or a plain lack of all morals in an individual) we see it – There is a real leader of all evil here on Earth, & it's not Darth Sidious, The Evil Emperor, but Lucifer, & he is bent on hurting & destroying & separating man from God. His agenda is laid out in John 10:10,
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy..."
- that's his agenda, to deceive and ultimately destroy God's people.

Billy Graham, Angels:
'Satan has great power. He is cunning and clever, having set himself against God and His people. He will do everything in his power to hold people captive in sin and drag them down to the prison of eternal separation from God.'

I. The Nature of Evil
Lucifer is the epitome of evil –
One of the metaphors given to Satan is that of a roaring lion – 1pt. 5:8
"Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up." (message)
"Be careful! Watch out for attacks from the Devil, your great enemy. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for some victim to devour." (NLT)

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
Ephesians 6:12 (NIV)

Satan and demons are not just something from scary movies. They exist in the spiritual realm that we cannot see w/ the naked eye. And their goal is to harm us by enticing us to sin and that sin eventually destroys our lives.

This is no afternoon athletic contest that we'll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels. Be prepared.”
Ephesians 6:12 (message)

The good news is that God has not left us defenseless. He has the strategy to overcome the enemy. I'm going to use a sports analogy today to set this up.

II. The Tactics of the Enemy

In preparing to compete against another team in athletics it's good to know, 'what is their game plan?' How do they operate? Their strengths, their weakness' – what are their tactics?
That being the case, let's look at the tactics of the enemy – our enemy –
what's his gameplan?
Satan is a deceiver, he is a master deceiver, however, he is not very original.
His strategy is the same today as it was w/ Adam & Eve in the garden.
He has only 1 battleplan & 1 strategy –
Adam & Eve were told by God to have a ball in the garden, He said, be fruitful and multiply, have fun but dont touch this tree, the tree of good and evil.
Satan shows up and asks Eve what did God tell you, why do you think He said that? He doesnt want you to become like Him does He?
Look at her response in Genesis 3:6
"When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some
and ate it."
He's tricky like that. Look at 1 John 2:16
"For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world."
Again showing the tactics of the enemy.

Satan targets our desires!

That's what he's done from day 1, that's his scheme, that's his gameplan
“A man's temptation is due to the pull of his own inward desires, which greatly attract him. It is his own desire which conceives and gives birth to sin.” James 1:14
also
"but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." v.14-15

Greek for dragged away: fishing term, to hide the hook in bait, so the next
thing you know you're hooked. The harder we fight or struggle, the deeper the hook sets.

Satan goes after a legitimate desire in an illegitimate way.

TEMPTATION IS: A battle for your heart

That is what he is after – he sets up these emotional traps all over just
hoping we'll be enticed enough to fall for it. Why does he do that?
B/c so often we make the mistake of basing our decisions off of our emotions. What happens when we base a decision off of our emotions? We get hurt,
more often than not we get hurt or hurt someone.
Here is a truth we all need to understand:
Our thoughts determine our emotions and our emotions determine
our actions.

Although it's a battle for our heart, the battle is won in the mind.
TEMPTATION IS: A battle for your mind

“...but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2

This is what we need to know – we need to know the enemy's tactics. We need to know what to look for – he's going to target our desires, wanting us to make decisions based on emotions.
Now that we know that what do we need to do?
Back to the sports analogy – we've heard it said, the best offense is a good defense. It applies to sports like basketball really well (both teams in NBA Finals are real good defensively which sets up their offense) It's also said the best defense is a good offense. Football is a good example this – FB being a time managemnet game, if the offense is at one end of field and they drive down the entire length of field and score, it was good for that teams defense, who rested that entire drive which strengthens their defense.
This same approach can work for us in preparing and battling temptation.
The best defense is a good offense.
What then is our offensive strategy in preparing for temptation...

III. Preparing for Temptation

Stay connected to God
You may thinking right now, “Wow, thank you bible scholar, I need to stay connected to God, wow, I would have never thought of that, you're amazing”
I know it's easy to say, but are we truly walking the walk? Yea, I'm connected
to God, I'm walking in the light, but are we really doing it?

"Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful apart from me. "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:4-5

This is what it means to stay connected. We will bear fruit.
“But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23
If I am connected to God, if I am walking w/ Him what's going happen?
I will bear this fruit of self-control. What is self-control?
It's simply holding in passions & appetites. So when the enemy tries to attack, and lays out those traps, I'm connected to God, and self-control rules.
Basically God rules. He rules my life and it shows.

Two ways to stay connected...

Read and meditate on God's Word

"How can a young person stay pure? By reading your word and following its rules. I have tried my best to find you-- don't let me wander from your instructions.
I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
I will meditate upon them and give them my full respect."
Psalm 119:9-11,15

Hey this is not difficult stuff – it's just a matter of doing it. Of opening my bible before I go to work or when I get home. Taking some time in His word, & asking the Holy Spirit to open my eyes. The bible also says that God's Word will not return void, “what can I get out of this today?

There isn't a set time when you have to sit down a read – if you wake up later than usual and cant read in the morning it doesn't mean your day is wasted –
it can be done later, in the evening, whenever –
Hey, just do it – hang out with God.

"live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." Galatians 5:16
Stay connected and you can avoid falling into temptation.
Resource – The Secrets of the Vine – Bruce Wilkinson

Find close friends who share your same values
We talked about this 2 weeks ago – developing real friendships, true authentic community. It's getting connected to other believers – best way is in small groups. We have a ladies group every other Wed. and guys every other Thur.
I'm not going to spend a lot of time here – you can go online and get in depth info www.experiencefocusonline.com - "The Jedi Council"
but look at this scripture:
“Bad company corrupts good character” 1 Corinthians 15:33

Who are you hanging out with? Who are you spending most of your time with? Is it the office gossip? Is it the guy with low morals?
The person who's lifestyle is equal to Snoop Dog?
Who you hang out with you become like. They rub off. Good or bad.

"Run from anything that stimulates youthful lust. Follow anything that makes you want to do right. Pursue faith and love and peace, and enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts."
2 Timothy 2:22
Hang out w/ those who want to do right.
I am saying don't hang out at all w/ someone who doesn't follow God whole-heartily – they live a life outside of God – am I saying avoid them all together – NO WAY! It's our job to reach out to those who do not know Christ – you just shouldn't spend the majority of your time with that crowd.

Don't place yourself in compromising situations
How easy it is for us to place ourselves in these compromising situations.
"The prudent carefully consider their steps. The wise are cautious and avoid danger" Proverbs 14:15-16

We have to be able to look at the situation and ask is this really something i should be a part of? Is this really somewhere I should go? Is this really someone I should be spend this must time with? And we allow ourselves to get into compromising situations. It is in these scenarios where the enemy comes in attacks, he attacks our desires, and we find ourselves in a pickle. A battle has begun in the heart and mind. We need to avoid those situations all together – and we know, we get that Holy Spirit check of this may not be a good idea.

"But remember that the temptations that come into your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can't stand up against it. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you will not give in to it."
1 Corinthians 10:13

Beyond the Holy Spirit check, how do we know we shouldn't go down that road – it is probably wrong path or a compromising situation?
The 1st clue is it's done in secret. We hide it from others. If it's something you are hiding from others, more likely than not it's a compromising situation and it only leads to temptation and pulls us away from God's desire for us.
And we dishonor God.
What do we always say when we've gotten in a bit to deep, found ourselves in trouble, “How did I get here? How did this happen?
We did it to ourselves - we lost the battle of the mind and we went for it – am I hittin home here w/ anyone or is this just for me?

Exercise yourself spiritually
“Spend your time and energy in training yourself for spiritual fitness.”
1 Timothy 4:7
We need to develop spiritual habits in our lives.
“Bodily exercise is all right, but spiritual exercise is much more important and is a tonic for all you do. So exercise yourself spiritually and practice being a better Christian because that will help you not only now in this life, but in the next too.” 1 Timothy 4:8

How many of you, if you tried, could run a 5k marathon tomorrow?
What if you tried really hard? What if you tried really, really hard?
No way, we have to train. I just recently started running. But for me to run a
5k I would need to train and work at it to get into the shape needed to run.

There's an enormous difference between trying to do something and training
to do something.
"Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize." 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

To train means: To arrange my life around the activities I need that
I cannot do now.

I need to arrange my life around certain practices to develop the strategy to avoid temptation
I need to arrange my life around certain practices to stay connected to God that will produce that self-control needed.

I need to arrange my life around...

Time spent in God's Word

Time spent with God in prayer

Time spent with other believers

Time spent giving and serving - go to series: 'At Your Service'

"live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." Galatians 5:16

Star Wars - "The Phantom Menace"

It seems we live in an angry society. In the U.S. Every 14 sec. There is a violent crime, every 24sec. there's another murder. All over our country divorce courts are full of people who are angry. People – professionals lose their jobs b/c of outbursts of anger. We try to hide this 'Phantom Menace' in the shadows of our lives – we deny that anger exists, some even claim, “it's just my personality, it's just the way I am, get used to it baby!” Sometimes anger can just smolder, boil under the surface. Other times it explodes like a geyser.
BALLOON ILLUS.
Blow up – don't tie – don't pop it - “Here's how we are with anger” - turn to the person next to you and let a little air out in their face.
Anger is like that in some of us – we let a little out at a time – throughout the day little by little we spit & spew on people. Little stuff builds up & we take it out here or there. It comes across as negativity, glass is half empty, in a sarcastic & complaining way.
Blow balloon back up – now release it! Some anger can get out of control & instead of bouncing off the ceiling & walls – were bouncing off of people & our relationships – especially those close to us & people get hurt! (Blow up own balloon) Sometimes we just get so full or so addicted to our release of anger that – pop balloon – we just pop! We just explode – have you ever been around people like that?
Do you like being around people like that? You kinda expect it, yet you never know when it's coming

How is your irritation quotient – 'Everybody's normal till you get to know them' by John Ortberg – pg. 128

How did you do in your irritation quotient test?
Throughout our day, there are multiple opportunitiesto get angry b/c, well people are idiots aren't they?
Under the surface we steam, we are boiling at different degrees.
Do you know what's going on? We've been denied our sense of satisfaction.
A definition for frustration is: when reality and expectations collide – Our frustration creates anger. We are dissatisfied.
We'd be satisfied if the dummy on the road knew what he was doing, or we'd be satisfied if our boss saw how good we really are, or we'd be satisfied if our spouse would cooperate w/ our agenda.
We get angry.

I. When do we get angry?

When our sense of satisfaction is denied.
There's a great example of this in Genesis 29-31
Jacob sees this lady at the well (“lovely in form and beautiful ” = HOTTIE) –
tell story

“Now it was Jacob's turn to get angry. He lit into Laban: "So what's my crime, what wrong have I done you that you badger me like this? You've ransacked the place. Have you turned up a single thing that's yours? Let's see it--display the evidence. Our two families can be the jury and decide between us. "In the twenty years I've worked for you, ewes and she-goats never miscarried. I never feasted on the rams from your flock. I never brought you a torn carcass killed by wild animals but that I paid for it out of my own pocket--actually, you made me pay whether it was my fault or not. I was out in all kinds of weather, from torrid heat to freezing cold, putting in many a sleepless night. For twenty years I've done this: I slaved away fourteen years for your two daughters and another six years for your flock and you changed my wages ten times.” Genesis 31:36-41

It's not fair
Luke 15 – tell story
"The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen. The son said, "Look how many years I've stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast! Luke 15:28-30
The older brother calls, "foul – not fair"

II. Anger becomes good or bad w/ our motive

Anger stands against something – it's always up against something or someone – it's demeanor or purpose, it's directive is against something, we all experience it. The ? is, “what will we do with it?” What's our motive?”

Our anger can be destructive & selfish

When selfishness directs my anger it can be destructive.
Genesis 4 – Cain and Abel – tell story
These 2 were to offer sacrifices to God, Abel did, Cain blew it. Cain's offering was rejected by God & he's angry.
"...The LORD accepted Abel and his offering, but he did not accept Cain and his offering. This made Cain very angry and dejected."Why are you so angry?" the LORD asked him..." Genesis 4:4-6

Sometimes b/c our desire for satisfaction has been denied we think God's not playing fair – sometimes we shake our fist at Him in a fury, sometimes we quietly hold back and say, “I'm gonna live life my way, I'm gonna make things work for me, not relying on anyone else, not even God, I'll take matters into my hands.”
This is what Cain did – it was selfish and destructive:
"Later Cain suggested to his brother, Abel, "Let's go out into the fields." And while they were there, Cain attacked and killed his brother." Genesis 4:8

While we may not kill physically, we'll kill a relationship, we'll sever a friendship, we'll destroy our own integrity, our character.
This anger is selfish, self focused, and then it's destructive – look at James 4:2
“You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous for what others have, and you can't possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them.”

We mishandle anger when...

...practice self – protectionism
I'm not talking about an event when someone is bringing you bodily harm but the reality is pain enters our lives everyday – emotinal pain is a part
of our everyday lives. We use anger to avoid going to that place, protecting ourselves from going to that level – you see there is always a deeper emotion behind anger, underneath the surface emotion of anger –
is the emotion of sadness.
We don't like that feeling, we don't like talking about it, we don't like to subject ourselves to the risk of looking weak, so it's easier to be angry. We protect ourselves from that feeling

...we shift the focus
When we get close enough to someone that an event or someone exposes my selfishness, or exposes my insensitivity, or exposes my wrong then I want to shift the focus or you could call it 'becoming defensive'. Our immediate response too often is:
“Yeah, but you're the one who... it wasnt my fault it was...” we shift the focus away from ourselves.

Anger can be productive and loving
Anger motivated by love can be very productive. Many examples of this in Jesus' life. In fact the Bible is full of occasions when God is angry. I highlighted one story for you: Mark 3
"Jesus went into the synagogue again and noticed a man with a deformed hand. Since it was the Sabbath, Jesus' enemies watched him closely. Would he heal the man's hand on the Sabbath? If he did, they planned to condemn him. Jesus said to the man, "Come and stand in front of everyone." Then he turned to his critics and asked, "Is it legal to do good deeds on the Sabbath, or is it a day for doing harm? Is this a day to save life or to destroy it?" But they wouldn't answer him. He looked around at them angrily, because he was deeply disturbed by their hard hearts. Then he said to the man, "Reach out your hand." The man reached out his hand, and it became normal again! At once the Pharisees went away and met with the supporters of Herod to discuss plans for killing Jesus." Mark 3:1-6

The one thing that moves the loving heart of God to act in anger, to be motivated by anger is when the law of love is broken. The story of God throughout the Bible is a story of God's love for us, and His invitation to love Him & His call for us to love each other.
When that solitary law is broken – the heart of God is broken & there's an emotion of anger. Jesus' heart was deeply disturbed b/c the law of love was broken. And these guys said there was no law above our Jewish code, including the law of love & Jesus was angry.
There's a right kind of anger, a righteous anger that can be motivated by love. An abused woman, an abused child.

Unfortunately we more often chose the selfish anger, the anger motivated by our selfishness rather than that motivated by love – a love and care for others.

"In your anger do not sin" Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” Ephesians 4:26-27

Paul says, “you're gonna get angry, that's gonna happen, but don't sin in your anger. Don't let anger control you”
In another letter to the Galatians the apostle Paul talked about the fruit, the product, the result of God's work in us when we focus our attention on God, quieting ourselves in Him. One of those fruits is self-control. And in Paul's teaching it does not describe a place that we get to where we'll never experience or feel anger again, but rather we'll practice and develop self-control so that when we feel the emotion – we'll stop & ask some ?'s that will help us understand the motive.

God's way to deal...
“Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil.”
Psalm 37:7-8

STOP - we have to learn to stop, slow down before God... then
Be Quiet - I know it's easier said than done, but it matters to be quiet before the Lord, it is there that we can turn the fire off, its there that are demeanor can begin to change as we find perspective.
Consider - to consider, “this is really happening, I'm angry” it is here where we can ask some ?'s, “what's the purpose of my anger? What's the motivation behind this? Does my anger help anyone?” to consider what resentment lies beneath all this? To consider how it is I might practice love and that my anger can be productive?

This comes from self-control – time w/God

(More on this next week)

Star Wars - The Jedi Council

If you are familiar w/ the Star Wars saga you recognize the overall theme of good v. evil. Throughout all 6 episodes you see the forces of good, The Republic, battling the formation and then completion of the Evil Empire. One of the many subplots we see is that this battle is not a one man show, like Rambo or one of Arnolds films. The Republic is a group of fighters, hero's, friends that band together for what is right and just. Along their side is the Jedi Order:

A noble order of protectors unified by their belief and observance of the Force, the Jedi came to serve as guardians of peace and justice.
The Jedi High Council is the main interface between the Jedi and the government of the Republic.

There is so much more to the Jedi council and the Jedi Order than an interface to the people – they are a close knit circle of friends. With a tight bond between brothers who all sacrifice and serve by protecting and putting their lives on the line. All becoming very close along their journey as they move from the apprentice stage to Master.
And in this battle we see a group of companions that together fight for what is right...
Companions are an important part of this battle, this journey we all call life.
In the Bible we also see time and time again a group of friends that together fight for what is right.
We see that even Jesus had a tight knit group of friends. Those that helped and supported Him on His journey to the cross. Think about the people that supported Him along His journey:
Ofcourse you have the 12 disciples - His traveling companions if you will.
Of those 12 He spent more time with 3, Pete, Jim, and John.
He would take these 3 away to special events such as the Transfiguration on the Mountain and the raising of Jairus' daughter to name a couple.
Of those 3, He was probably closest to John. Which the Bible to refers to as, “The disciple whom Jesus loved” as well as while He was on the cross Jesus asked John to take care of His mother, Mary.
The Bible also points out others in Jesus' circle – Mary Magdalene,
Martha, and Lazarus were friends of Christ. As well as others who along w/ those already mentioned were companions of Christ. Those who helped Him accomplish His goal which was getting to the cross.
Because He was born to die, He came to give His life as a ransom for many so that we could live.

Just as the Republic and the Jedi all had companions in their journey
and Jesus had His friends to help Him along His journey, we too all need companions, friends to help us along our journey in life.

It's interesting if you look through history to see the # of famous people who had these small bands of friends to help and encourage each other.
Did you know that Ben Franklin had a small group – He did - the name of his group was, 'my most ingenious friends group'.
They would get together, write papers, discuss them, discuss their ideas, ask questions – the group meet every friday night for 40 yrs.
Do you know why Ben was still accomplishing great things in his late 80's & 90's – his greatest inventions came after he was 70 b/c he had a group of friends who were encouraging and supporting him.
Did you know that Thomas Edison had a small group? He called it,
'my mastermind alliance' – He put together those with a similar like mission & that group meet over a 6 yr. Period In that time they came up w/ 300 patented inventions – they were avg. one minor invention every 6wks. And one major every 6mos.

We cannot make it in life alone, God did not create us that way. We need our own companions, our own small group of friends - look at:
“Two are better off than one, because together they can work more effectively. If one of them falls down, the other can help him up. But if someone is alone... there is no one to help him... Two people can resist an attack that would defeat one person alone.”
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
Being a part of a small group of friends is critical

I know some of you are now, I know some have been a part of them in the past and completely know the benefits. But if you are not now at this time all I can say is you are missing out on so much more that God has for your life. We are created for community. For real relationships, for true authentic community.

SIX ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS OF AUTHENTIC COMMUNITY

The 1st 2 kinda go together, they are Service & Sacrifice.
Service and sacrifice are essential to authentic community. True friends serve each other – they make sacrifices. A true friend is committed to you, and one of the measurable ways to know is they will sacrifice their needs for yours. Look at what Jesus said:
“...here is how to measure it--the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends.” John 15:13
Friends are committed to each other, they have each other backs, they care about what is important to the other.
“Don't think only about your own affairs, but be interested in others, too, and what they are doing.” Philippians 2:4
One of the best examples of this kind of friendship can be found in
1 Samuel 18 – David and Jonathan. This is right after the famous battle of David defeating Goliath when David meets Jonathan for the 1st time and they become instant friends.

“After David had finished talking with Saul, he met Jonathan, the king's son. There was an immediate bond of love between them, and they became the best of friends... And Jonathan made a special vow to be David's friend, and he sealed the pact by giving him his robe, tunic, sword, bow, and belt.”
1 Samuel 18:1-4
This is a true picture of sacrifice – Jonathan in giving these 4 items to David was in essence surrendering his rightful place to the throne. He was giving David his royalty when he gave him these things. In sacrifice and in serving his friend he was saying this was David's place as the next King of Israel. As this story continues we see that King Saul begins to recognize that David is God's chosen King to lead Israel and crazy jealous, and tries to kill David. But Jonathan's loyalty to David never fades.
A couple of chapters later,1 Samuel 23, we see Jonathan's love for David

“One day near Horesh, David received the news that Saul was on the way to Ziph to search for him and kill him. Jonathan went to find David and encouraged him to stay strong in his faith in God. "Don't be afraid," Jonathan reassured him. "My father will never find you! You are going to be the king of Israel, and I will be second to you, as my father is well aware." So the two of them renewed their covenant of friendship before the LORD. Then Jonathan returned home, while David stayed at Horesh.” 1 Samuel 23:15-18
Jonathan was willing to sacrifice and serve, that's what true friendship looks like. What is one word for Sacrifice & Service – LOVE

Elements 3 & 4 – Support & Encouragement

There are going to be times in life, and many of you know this already, where the bottom just falls out. Some kind of hardship or difficulty that can literally rock your world. In those times you find out who your true friends are. Friends walk in as everyone else is filling out. The Bible talks about this and calls it, carrying each others burdens. “Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2
The word 'carry' in the Greek is an imperative, it's a command. The Apostle Paul is commanding us as followers of Christ to carry one anothers burdens. "Yeah, OK I'll carry it if it's convenient, or I'll carry it if it's not to heavy, or whatever", NO, that's not what the Word of God is telling us here. As a part of the family of God we are to support those who need our support. So whenever someone is dealing with a loss, or a severe setback or letdown we are to be there for them, to support, to come alongside them.
Not only is support needed in those times but so is encouragement.
Look at what Paul told the church in Thessalonia:
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11
The Greek word for encourage is “parakeleo” which means: to exhort, encourage, comfort, console, to come alongside. It is the word taken from the Greek word for the Holy Spirit, 'paraclete' which means the Holy Spirit is our counselor and comforter.
I like this quote from Larry Crabb: Connecting -
“The deepest urge in every human heart is to be in relationship w/ someone who absolutely delights in us.”

You see that's what friends do, they delight in us, they just love us for who we are – They are to stand with us in our darkest despair, and rejoice w/ us in times of joy. Only in authentic community with real friends can we find that support & encouragement.

Element 5 – Confrontation
Authentic community is not only found in the fun, fuzzy, warm feelings of support and encouragement, sometimes we need to be confronted. And who better to confront us than those who love and care for us. Those are the appropriate ones to come and confront us.
A friend cares enough to warn you when your about to run into a brick wall. Proverbs 27:6 “Wounds from a friend can be trusted.” Why?
B/c they are doing it for our best interest.
The Bible is very clear that as a part of the family of God we are to warn those, to confront those who are headed towards a train wreck.
“...if another Christian is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. Remembering the next time it might be one of you who is in the wrong.” Galatians 6:1
We are literally to help others the way we want to be helped.
“Let us speak the truth in love.” Ephesians 4:13

Notice the attitude, the motivation that needs to be used. It is done out of concern, it is done out of love. Forgiveness is invloved. Christians often confuse confrontation with judgment. We hear people say, “well who are you to judge me?” But judgment and confrontation are 2 totally different things.
Look at the differernce

The Motivation behind Confrontation: LOVE

We are looking out for their best interest, it is out of real concern, real love for that person that it is done gently and humbly.

The Motivation behind Judgment: Contempt

It's looking down on someone with utter disgust, it creates a sense of superiority, that you're better than they are.
We have a responsibility to one another in real, authentic community to warn, to show a friend they are headed down a path that does not honor God.
But it is important to confront in a way that is loving, not harsh, but humbly wanting to show them what you see happening.
So we confront, as a friend that is one of your responsibilities.
I have friends in my life who have full reign to look me in the eyes and let me know that I'm blowing it – one of those individuals is my wife, and believe me she lets me know!
I know these people care about me and they have my best interest in mind - so let it be.

Element 6 – Acceptance

Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you.” Romans 15:7

The Bible tells us that while we were still sinners, enemies of God, lost in this world, Christ accepted us. It tells us that God accepts each of us just as we are with no strings attached. God accepts us just the way we are, but He loves us too much to leave us that way. He begins to work inside of us as we saw last week – it is something the Holy Spirit Does in us to transform us into the image of Christ.
A true friend loves you for who you are but that does not mean they condone sinful behavior. Acceptance is about taking them just as they are and loving them enough to see what God wants them to become.

Acceptance is a powerful gift in a friendship and it leads to one of the most important aspects of community – that is connection.

Connection is where the trust is built up in a persons life where real life change can occur through the Holy Spirit. The ability to trust comes from an atmosphere we must have of acceptance, and of love, and forgiveness.

We must be a church, a people who love, accept, and forgive.

LoveAcceptForgive

These 6 elements of authentic community can even be narrowed down to
LAF.

Star Wars - "May the Force be with you"

The hype has hit are the movie-goers bought into it with the release of the last movie of the Star Wars saga. Some people stood in line for weeks prior to the opening of The Revenge of the Sith. At the time of its release two million Americans played hooky from work so they could watch the premiere. Worldwide through last Sunday, "Revenge of the Sith" had taken in $504.4 million since its almost simultaneous debut in most countries beginning
May 18.
George Lucas’ Star Wars series has become nothing less than a cultural phenomenon as well as an incredible marketing phenomenon, too. In fact the last movie sold two billion dollars in movie related merchandise. One commentator said that the famous Star Wars phrase, “May the force be with you” ought to be changed to “May the sales force be with you.”

I myself have been a Star Wars fan since the beginning, with the exception of Jar Jar Binks. I don’t think anybody honestly really liked Jar Jar Binks. And Yoda bugs me a bit, but you’ve got this guy whose supposed to be so brilliant and so wise and so full of wisdom and yet he can’t speak a straightforward English sentence.
“Totally backward his sentences are.
Really annoying the little creep is”

Certainly Lucas has created more than just a raw adventure series. For example he has intentionally added religious overtones to the movies. In The Phantom Menace for example we learn that young Anakin Skywalker was immaculately conceived and that his appearance was a fulfillment of ancient prophecies. Sound familiar? I’m not saying that there’s anything theologically profound about Star Wars but I do believe that part of its success is due to these underlying spiritual themes.
So I (being a Star Wars fan) see this as an intriguing way to ask the question, “What would the Bible say about these spiritual themes that we see in the
Star Wars movies? And what can these themes tell us about the real God?

So over the next few weeks we're going to take a look at spiritual parallels from the movie Star Wars and what God's Word says.

Well we see that: the movies tap in to a desire in each person to connect with something bigger than themselves.

To know that we haven’t been left alone in the universe to kind of figure things out by ourselves. To believe that we can have a supernatural resource to guide us through the crises of life. In Star Wars this sense of the supernatural is represented by The Force. In fact, you remember these famous words, “May The Force be with you.” George Lucas told Time magazine, “I put The Force into the movie for a reason. I put The Force into the movie to awaken a certain kind of spirituality in young people.” In other words, he wanted to stimulate questions about God and what God was really like. And here’s the amazing thing. If this does succeed in pointing people toward the Bible to discover the real life counterpart to the fictional force what they will find is something even more spectacular, even more astonishing, even more awe inspiring than all of the special effects of the Star Wars movies. Because, as amazing as Lucas paints The Force, to be honest it absolutely pales in comparison to the incredible adventure story that the Bible paints about the Holy Spirit.

How amazing is the Holy Spirit?
For one thing He created the entire universe. The Bible says that the world was created out of the Father, through the Son and by the Holy Spirit. In fact, we encounter the Holy Spirit in the opening scene of the Bible, the very second verse which says this,
“Now the earth was formless and empty. Darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
The Holy Spirit is seen in the very process of creation. That’s just the beginning of the Holy Spirit’s feats in history’s biggest adventure story.

He also caused Jesus Christ to be conceived in the womb of a virgin, setting up God’s great redemptive drama. Matthew 1:18
“Mary was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.”

In fact it was also the Holy Spirit who culminated this historic drama by participating in the raising of Jesus from the dead in His triumphant victory over the grave. Romans 1:4 talks about the power of that Spirit of holiness which raised Christ to life again from the dead.
“And Jesus Christ our Lord was shown to be the Son of God when God powerfully raised him from the dead by means of the Holy Spirit” Romans 1:4

And, on top of that, it was the Holy Spirit who inspired the writing of the Bible, working through a variety of people to create the most important, the most profound, the most practical spiritual book ever written, a book that peels back the vale of mystery and introduces us to God Himself. 2 Peter 1:21
“It was the Holy Spirit within these godly men who gave them true messages from God.”

Not only that, it was the Holy Spirit, Acts 2 says, that instituted the miraculous birth of the Christian church when He was poured out in an unprecedented way in what has come to be known as Pentecost. The disciples were all together. Acts 2:4 says this
“All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit.”
And because of how He empowered them and emboldened them and guided them the church was born and the church began to thrive despite this relentless persecution by the real life counterpart of the evil empire which was the Roman Empire.

As if all of that weren’t amazing enough this very same Spirit of God who raised Jesus from the dead, the very same Spirit of God who created the universe takes up residence inside every single follower of Jesus Christ where He does an inside job of recreating them over time to become more and more like Jesus.
1 Corinthians 3:16
“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you.”
So in the most profound sense a follower of Jesus Christ is never alone. In fact, the very name of the Holy Spirit, the paraclete, literally means the Holy Spirit is our counselor. He is our advocate. He is our comforter. He is our guide. He is our helper.
He will stay with believers. He will guide them into the ways of God.
The Holy Spirit is amazing.

He also gives spiritual gifts. What are spiritual gifts?
(reference: 'At You Service - Discover Your Design - April 10, 2005)
They are a divine enablement to accomplish things for God that we could never possibly do in and of our own talents and our own abilities. And allowing God to energize and use this spiritual gift that He has given to you is one of the most fulfilling, satisfying adventures of the Christian life.
1 Corinthians 12:7 “To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.” So He gives each follower of Jesus a gift.

The Bible says there’s a number of gifts. And God will give you one if you give your life to Him. And as He energizes it He uses you in the furtherance of that gift, amazing things can happen and you’re going to find fulfillment and satisfaction like nothing else.
Inside of me, inside of every follower of Jesus He also gently but powerfully works to transform us more and more over time into the image of Jesus Christ. To help us act more like Jesus would act, to respond more as Jesus would respond, to make choices as Jesus would make more and more over time.

And that’s not all He does inside of us. The Bible also promises that He will produce nine qualities inside of us that human beings could only experience on a superficial level without the Holy Spirit. With the Holy Spirit we can experience much more fully. This is referred to in the Bible as the fruit of the Holy Spirit. You see in described in Galatians 5:22-23.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Those are the very nine qualities we need most in life, aren't they? You’re living a stressed out life and you say, “God, I need more peace.”
The Holy Spirit says, I can help with that. “I need more self control.” The Holy Spirit says, I can help you with that. “I want to be more loving… I want to be kinder… I want to be gentler...” The Holy Spirit says, I can help you with that. “I want to know God more fully.” The Holy Spirit says, You can. Through Me.

That’s just a brief summary of the Holy Spirit’s astounding ministry.
Yet there have been a lot of misunderstandings, a lot of misconceptions, a lot of confused people about the identity and the role of the Holy Spirit. So what I want to do today is use this fictional creation in Star Wars of The Force and draw a contrast between that entity and the real life Holy Spirit as a way of helping us understand who the Holy Spirit is, what His role is and what difference it makes to you today in your life.

Some contrasts between this fictional force of Star Wars and the real Holy Spirit.

The first contrast is this. The Force is impersonal.
Star Wars defines The Force as: The Force is an energy field generated by all living things.
Some cults erroneously teach that the Holy Spirit is also a force, an energy. Sort of like electricity or magneticism. That’s what they teach but is it true? It reminds me of something Abraham Lincoln said to his children once, “If you call a tail a leg then how many legs does a dog have?” Five? He said, “Wrong. There would still be four legs because calling a tail a leg does not make it so.” That’s true.
And calling the Holy Spirit a force does not make it so. Because the firm evidence of the Bible shows that the Holy Spirit is not impersonal...
but He is personal.
He is a person. Not that He has hands and feet - He’s Spirit - but He has all the qualities that makes a person a person in the truest sense.
Having character, having personality, having a will, having intellect, having emotions, having the ability to communicate. The Bible says the Holy Spirit can be lied to. He can teach. He can be outraged. Why?
Because He is a person. Those things would not be true of an energy force of an energy field.
Have you noticed the Bible always refers to the Holy Spirit with personal pronouns? It never refers to the Holy Spirit as “it”. The Bible always refers to the Holy Spirit as “Him” or “He”. For example John 15:26
“When the counselor comes, that is the Holy Spirit, He will testify about Me.”
Two things there. First, He, which indicates He is a person not an it, not a force. Second, what is He going to do? He’s going to testify. A force field can’t testify. That requires intellect, communication abilities. So there’s two ways that verse shows us the Holy Spirit is a person.
Why should that matter? Why should that matter to us? Because if the Holy Spirit were merely an energy force we could never personally relate to Him. We can know about the force of magnetism but we can’t know the force of magnetism. But because the Holy Spirit is a person, we can know Him personally. We can interact with Him, we can commune with Him, we can relate to Him. And He can personally respond to us. That’s hugely important.

2. The Force’s divinity is uncertain.
We don’t know if it’s God or not. George Lucas says, “I would hesitate to call The Force, God.” One common characteristic of cults today is they also deny the deity of the Holy Spirit. But the Bible clearly teaches that the Holy Spirit’s divinity is certain. It is clear, the Bible says, that He is God. He is equally God along with God the Father and God the Son who together make up the trinity.
This is illustrated a number of ways in the Bible. One Acts 5:3 where the Apostle Peter is confronting a guy called Ananias by saying,
“How is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit?” Then in verse 4 Peter adds, “You have not lied to man but you have lied to God,” because the Holy Spirit is God.

The Bible makes it clear that the Holy Spirit possesses every attribute that makes God, God. Why is that important for us? For this reason: it means the Holy Spirit when you are going through troubled times, when you are in need of comfort, when you are in need of encouragement is more than a good friend that sits next to you and commiserates with you. That’s all your friend can do is feel bad for you and commiserate with you. But because the Holy Spirit is God, because He possesses the infinite power of the God of the universe He can do more than just commiserate with you. He has the power to make an actual difference in your life. So it’s extremely important that the Holy Spirit is God.

3. The third contrast between The Force of Star Wars and the true Holy Spirit is The Force is both good and bad.
You have the good guys, the Jedi knights and they access the positive side of The Force. You have the bad guys like Darth Vader and the evil emperor Darth Sidious and they receive power from The Dark Side. This is a concept that’s taken from Eastern philosophy where God is both good and bad at the same time. In fact in Hinduism there are millions of impersonal gods. There are good gods and bad gods. In fact in Hinduism there’s actually a goddess of death in whose name people have killed other people in the past.
When you think about this concept, the possibility that God in His infinite power would be both good and bad that’s a frightening thought. But the Bible tells us it isn’t true. The Bible tells us the Holy Spirit, being God, is only good. He is only, only good. Psalm 34:8 invites us to “Taste and see that the Lord is good.”
Not only that but the Holy Spirit opposes evil which is what we would want God to do. Why is this important to us? It’s important to us because the Holy Spirit, you can count on Him to always do what is ultimately in your best interest. You can trust Him to always do what is good and what is right so your trust in Him can be complete, your reliance on Him can be total.

4. The fourth contrast is The Force calls upon people to rely on their feelings.
You see this over and over again in Star Wars. Young Anakin Skywalker is told this, “Feel. Don’t think. Trust your instincts.” And at another point OB1 Kanobe tells Luke Skywalker “Trust your feelings.” Listen to the way George Lucas articulated the thinking behind this. “Ultimately The Force is the larger mystery of the universe and to trust your feelings is your way into that.”

That is a very, very, very dangerous message. Feelings shift, feelings change, feelings get contaminated by evil and by self-interest and by ego and by deception. Feelings are notoriously unreliable. I'm sure you recall the Columbine school killings where these kids went in the school and murdered a bunch of people. What was their reasoning: they were just living out authentically their feelings. This is what they felt they should do. This is what they felt was the right thing, the best thing for them to do so they did it. That doesn’t make it right. This is the danger of relying on feelings.

The Holy Spirit says something different. The Holy Spirit invites testing. He invites testing. He says, Don’t just rely on your feelings. 1 John 4:1 “Dear friends do not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.”
God has given us a standard against which we can measure. When we believe we’re hearing the whispering of the Spirit in our lives, the nudgings of the Holy Spirit encouraging us to do something, to say something, we can measure it against this measuring rod that God has given us of the Bible because the Holy Spirit will never contradict something said in this book.
So if you feel like God is nudging you through His Holy Spirit to do something and this book says don’t do it, that’s not the Holy Spirit that’s urging you to do something. It’s your own self-interest. It may be an evil source. Because the Holy Spirit lives inside of every Christ-follower another way we can test the spirits is by going to a mature, godly Christian who knows us well and say, I feel like the Holy Spirit is encouraging me in this direction. Would you pray about it? Would you see if there’s consistency between what you sense from God and what I’m sensing form God?
I remember when Cathleen and I were praying about something BIG we felt God was doing in our lives. We prayed together, but also separately - I knew the Holy Spirit lives in my wife and He lives in me. He is not going to be inconsistent and tell her one thing and tell me another. We needed to pray, we needed to find out. Is the Holy Spirit consistent? Absolutely! We need to seek counsel from other godly people. We need to look in this book and see the wisdom about making this decision.
The Bible says, Don’t just rely on feelings. Test the spirits because without that we are left tossed on a treacherous sea of emotionalism and relativism that will shipwreck your life. If you base your life on your feelings you will shipwreck it sooner or later. The Bible wants to protect you from that.

5. Another contrast between The Force of Star Wars and the real Holy Spirit is that The Force is reserved only for the elite.
Only a few people are able to access the power of The Force. According to Star Wars. It says this: Through the Force a Jedi knight can see far off places. He can perform amazing feats and he can accomplish what would otherwise be impossible.
But the Holy Spirit is available to all. He is available not to just a few. He is available to all. To each and every person who in repentance and faith receives Jesus Christ as the forgiver of their sins and is thereby adopted into what’s called The Body of Christ which is the church. 1 Corinthians 12:13
“For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body whether Jew or Greek, slaves or free, and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.”
Why is this important? Because through the Holy Spirit all Christ’s followers can see and understand and discern things that other people cannot. They can perform amazing feats of courage and love which leave the world astounded. They can accomplish things through their spiritual gift that otherwise would not be humanly possible. Only because God resides in us.

There is a difference between the Holy Spirit entering into a believers life at the moment of salvation – what is called the New Birth or New Life and the Baptism or Coming upon of the Holy spirit.
At salvation each person receives the Holy Spirit, The Holy Spirit now resides in the believer.
“...Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit” Ephesians 1:13
The Baptism of the Holy Spirit comes into a believers life after salvation is a done done. That baptism is to provide:
- spiritual power for living
“But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit” Jude 20

"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests." Ephesians 6:18

- serving & speaking of Christ
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Acts 1:8
As Christians, followers of Jesus Christ we are called to love God with all our heart and serve Him, in other words, what can I do to further the advancement of God's agenda?

The Force is an entertaining invention of Hollywood. I love going to the movies. I love seeing all the action. But the Holy Spirit is real. He is available to help you and to encourage you and to comfort you and to empower you and to enlighten you and to guide you and to teach you.