Immorality distorts our decision-making
We hear about the crazy ordeals in the news - Dad/Soccer coach in Flor. who everybody loved, was arrested for embezzling $10,000 from the league and concessions. Parents were shocked.
A mom in another part of the country who had been elected treasurer of their non-profit S.L., and get this, over the last few years she has embezzled over $100,000 from the league. -
Again the parents were shocked.
For all of us we seem to go thru these seasons of life where we’re just not dialed in, below the surface we’re struggling & we battle hurts, hang-ups, and habits - and sometimes things just get down right out of control.
and nobody wants to end up there.
Do you think soccer dad and mom woke up one morning and said, “well today I’m gonna rip off my kids S.L.”
No it probably started w/ a big bill to pay & they were short on cash & thought nobody will notice - we‘ll repay it”
Maybe a few months later there became a sense of entitlement,
like you know I put alot of hours into this S.L., they owe me.
Then 1 thing leads to another & suddenly you end up in a place you thought you’d never be. Betraying people you thought you’d never betray - doing things you thought you’d never do.
So in each of our lives there is this temptation of immorality, whatever it may be & we all struggle w/ it - it’s unavoidable -
and we may end up living our lives w/ the appearance that everything is just fine.
So today were going to talk about, how do we unplug from this illusion of immorality.
How do we unplug from the negative influences.
If you have your bible turn to Is. 6
We’re going to unplug and see the world for what it really is - see the truth about God and ourselves - unplugging from this illusion is for people who are fed up w/ low living - they don’t wanna live a half life - they wanna live full out the life God
intended for us to live - they wanna unplug from the illusion & they want to be free & we see here in Is. a picture of a guy who has unplugged from the illusion of immorality - to live free and it changed everything for him.
“In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the LORD sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.
And he said, Go, and tell this people.” Isaiah 6:1-9
If we want to see God like Is. did we need to clear our perspective - when Is. cleared his perspective everything changed.
He saw God’s Holiness, he saw his helplessness, and he saw the hopelessness of the world -
He unplugged, and began a process - a process that breathed new life, and it freed him up and sent him on his mission.
There’s this process of personal renewal that set him free - look at this in vs. 5 he says, WOE (circle) then the angel flys up to Is. (7)and says, LO (cir), & (v9) God says, GO (cir)
Is say, WOE, the angel says LO, and God says, GO - mix
These are the 3 elements in our journey toward freedom, to unplug from the illusion - 1st step is cleansing, 2nd step is consecration - angel touches him and says you belong to God
3rd step is that of our mission, God says, GO I have a mission for you.
WOE - cleansing
Hou. we have a problem, I have a problem, I am a man of unclean lips - God created you on purpose, for a purpose and God wants to pour into you - every arena of life crammed full of this thing Jesus called abundant life and love.
When we look at the great men and women of the bible we say, I want that too! That God-filled life.
When we find someone who displays this God-filled life something we find out about that person is they have gone thru this personal cleansing - someone living that God-filled life has dealt w/ the issue of personal sin in their life.
“let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience” Hebrews 10:22
God uses all types of personalities, all sorts of people groups, ethnic groups, male and female, big vessels, small vessels, plain vessels, even broken vessels, which is good b/c I’m a cracked pot - but there’s one 1 type of vessel God wont use and that’s a dirty vessel - 2 Timothy 2:21
“Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work”
- which mug would you use? Dirty or clean?
God wont do any less
Here’s the problem in my life I’ve discovered - I have this amazing tendency to get myself dirty - anyone know what I’m talking about? I have this nat. ability to say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing & I get myself dirty - I get myself stained - chip/ques
It’s a profound truth about ourselves and it’s key to unplugging from the illusion and it’s this: We’re ALL Stained.
In other words, everytime I gossip about somebody it’s a stain, everytime I shade the truth a little bit to protect myself or make myself look a little better it’s a stain, everytime hurtful words come out of my mouth to my wife or children it’s a stain -
everytime there’s a sexually inappropriate thought, another stain
Stain after stain after stain - what do I do to clean myself up, how do i get myself clean? Do I pull out the Tide pen and start scrubbin? You know most people think that’s how it works,
pull yourself up by the bootstraps, muster up some will-power & say, “I’m gonna be good - I’m gonna at least try to get the good things I do to outweigh the bad things I do. - Hopefully it will pan out in the end”
But I’ll tell you, I don’t think I could keep up w/ my sins.
I can’t out-do my stains. I keep saying the wrong things or doing the wrong things - I can’t keep up - I can’t do enough good works.
Here’s the good news, we don’t have to, it’s not about trying to outdo the stains or scrubbin away the stains - 1 John 1:8-9
“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
We can be cleansed of our stains, no matter what we’ve done, no matter how big the stain or the type of stain or even how many stains - you can be clean!
How? Thru the cross of Christ (explain)
B4 God pours Himself into us, there’s this moment of personal confession of saying, God, I can’t do it, will you please forgive me, will you clean me up, will You wash me clean from inside out... and He washes you completely.
For us to unplug from this illusion of immorality, this is where it starts - it can happen today - instantly!
We just need to confess to be able to clean up those dirty vessels to remain pure & holy b4 God and then do what He wants us to do. Psalm 32:5
Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, "I will confess
my transgressions to the LORD "—
and you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
LO - consecration
Roman 12:1 - “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.”
Consecration is offering yourself as a living sacrifice, saying, “God here I am, take all of me, I surrender to you.”
For any of us to be used mightily of God - there comes this act of I’m gonna be full out surrendered to Jesus.
What kind of sacrifice does God want?
“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. Psalm 51:17
For us to be used by God we have to come to this realization that the greatest hinderance to God’s work in my life is not other things, or circumstances, or other people, but ourselves.
That’s the greatest obstacle.
To unplug from this illusion we need to understand - brokenness
The issue of brokenness appears over and over in scrip.
Brokenness is a symbol of surrender - Jesus/ 5000
took the bread, blessed the bread, broke the bread, then He gave it away.
That’s exactly what Jesus will do w/ anything we put in His hands - if you put your life in His hands, He’ll take you, clean you up, and bless you - but there’s this process of breaking as well b4 He can give you away.
Now what do we need to be broken of? Our pride, it’s all about my dreams, my plans, my way - God’s gotta break us of these so we can be set free.
Wild Stallion - to break it - you don’t hurt it, but harness it - harness it’s power - why? - to work together.
Jesus said, Father, not my will, but yours. - that’s what we need to say - Life is not about us guys - life is about God
We’re born w/ this addiction to self & we gotta be broken of it
or otherwise we’ll spend our entire lives staring at our navels
“Cause it’s all about me, my stuff, what I have going on, -
this is not a good way to live life - so God breaks us of that & we become the kind of person He can pour into.
GO! - mission
This is about accepting your mission from God.
Sociologists tell us that it only takes 2% of a population to influence a culture - if that 2% is radically committed to whatever they believe in & whoever they follow.
If you need some evidence of that, look at Germany and the 3rd Reich, look at China & communism.
Let me ask you today - will you be God’s 2% in this world?
Will you be radically committed to the mission He’s given you.
b/c you do have a mission from Jesus Christ
“As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.”
John 17:18
You have a mission in this world, and you may have been delayed like Is. was delayed, but if you’re ready to confess, and you’re ready to surrender & and say, I’m all yours God - you can be on your mission, right here, right now - today.
God is not saying, “I’ll use you & you & you, and not you -
if you’re useable - God will use you - it’s not about ability, it’s about availability
And He pours into you and me & that’s how He works.
He touches you, and then He touches others thru you.
Isn’t that cool!
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Gray Matter - "I See it, I Want it, I Gotta Have it"
How many of you have made one of those Dumb, WWIT dec. in life? how many w/ money?
For us to disentangle the whole money issue we need to get to the root - we’ve gotta look at the root issue of what causes us to make poor choices, stupid dec. - we could look at things like budgeting, or the details of how to go about investing - but if we don’t look at the root of what causes us to get in this
predicament time and time again then we’ll just go right back there
Sometimes roots are hard to extract, particularly in this area of our finances
Brief Insight: There is little difference in the financial
behavior of those INSIDE the church as opposed to those OUTSIDE of the church
Here’s why we can say that - b/c most church-going people struggle in this area just as much of those who do not make God a priority in life
The root is GREED
If I were to take an informal poll of those in the church I would venture to think they’d say Greed is wrong - however most people would also say, I’d like some more money
- let’s just see (hands)
How many of you wouldn’t mind having a little more money?
“I’m not greedy, I just want more money”
This is why this is good to talk about in this series, b/c we’ve all been there - we’ve made some bad choices/dec w/ our cold hard earned cash
I think most of our money problems and poor dec. come down to - What holds us captive? it is our selfish wants and desires and that boils down to greed, materialism
which brings us to the challenge of Jesus
The Challenge: I am RESPONSIBLE before God for the
way I live in regards to the money I have
You see God, the Creator of the Universe has this competing rival - and it is anything we put above Him - which always boils down our wants and desires and the root is Greed
From the Lips of Jesus
• How money has a power over us
Matthew 6:19-24
But here is Jesus talking about how we need to make wise dec. concerning our money and then He sticks in v.22,23
and then right back to making wise money chioces/dec.
We probably ought to ask, “What in the world is that ‘eye thing’ doing right in the smack middle of making wise money dec. ?
“Jesus said, ‘The eye is the lamp of the body. If your
eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.
But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of
darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how
great is that darkness!’” Matthew 6:22-23
one level it’s very simple - if eyes work and light is on you can see all around - where chairs are and so forth...
If you eye isn’t working, even w/ a whole lot of light all around the room, then in a real sense you’re still in the dark.
right now you’re thinking, “Thank you Bible Scholar”
So to get some better perspective let’s look over to Luke where He also mentions the eye lamp thing then He goes on - look at
“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard
against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist
in the abundance of his possessions.’” Luke 12:15
What’s He talking about? Greed materialism - same stuff over in Matthew 6
Definition of Greed:
Inordinate DESIRE and/or DEPENDENCE on money and/or material things!
What’s that mean, ‘inordinate’ anyway
let’s unpack that, but write this down first
Jesus’ MAIN Point: Greed/Materialism has the peculiar
ability to BLIND me, to distort the way I SEE things in this world
Greed has the ability to blind you/me and the ability to distort everything, every choice, every dec. that we make
1st: Greed/Materialism has the power to blind me
to GREED & MATERIALISM!
If we were sitting there during the sermon on the mount - Matt. 6 and heard Jesus talking about making wise money dec. then the eye, lamp, light thing, then back to money we’d probably be thinking, “I don’t get it, what are you talking about, why did you put that in there?”
What I think is interesting is that Jesus is trying to get us to think
about this. But were saying, just tell us what to do
But Jesus wants us to really look at this
You see the thing here for us is this is the one issue in our world we see diff. than every other issue - that’s why Jesus says, It’s a problem of the eye -
Jesus never had to say to anybody, watch out you might be committing adultery - they know they are - they don’t say, gee whiz you’re not my wife - that doesn’t happen right?
but Jesus had to shout, watch out!
why b/c greed hides, it blinds us like nothing else
people may confess all kinds of things, lust, internet, bad behaviors, anger... but you never hear confessions of greed - why?
we don’t think that’s an issue - “Me - Greed?”
“I don’t make that much money” - we think of rich people right?
Here’s the thing, we all know somebody, friends, family, that are much more extravagant and excessive in their use of money than we are - isn’t that true - and thats all it takes - just to know somebody thats way out there in their use of money - so we say,
Me greedy, no way and Jesus says, watch out!
b/c most our dumb money dec. had to do w/ our selfish wants and desires, greed or materialism
2nd: Greed and materialism keeps me from
ASKING HARD QUESTIONS about my lifestyle
we don’t like to think about that - there’s always somebody we know who makes 3, 5, 10 times the amount of money we do - so we just don’t think we’re greedy
and we don’t think we need to ask the hard ?’s
like
Do I really NEED to SPEND this much money on this?
do I really NEED to spend that much money on those jeans?
do I really NEED to?
we don’t ask those tough ?’s and sometimes, alot of times that’s where the cc debt comes in
Are there ways I could save money in order to give more away?
Are there ways that I could be more generous?
As much as we don’t like to talk about it or hear about the money issues like this - Jesus talked about it all the time.
It’s in the Bible more than anything else - I wonder why?
B/c God knew how much we were going to fight against and struggle in this area
• Why money exercises power over us
“Jesus said, ‘For where your treasure is, there your
heart will be also.’” Matthew 6:21
The Point: The place where your heart really RESTS is revealed by money!
So what happens is we make unwise dec. b/c of where our heart really is. We think about ourselves.
in dealing with self, we use our heart, w/ others our head
we need to reverse that.
but what happens when we don’t reverse that is we make dec. based on our personal emotions and wants - here’s some
Money is a way…
...of gaining SIGNIFICANCE
we base our significance on our income, where we live, where we eat, dress - in reality people aren’t watching you that closely, they don’t really care, we care, that’s why we make those dec.
our sig. comes only in God
...of providing SECURITY
19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. Matthew 6
once again - security only found in Christ Jesus
• How we can break its power over us?
“Jesus said, ‘But seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness, and all these things all these things
will be given to you as well.’” Matthew 6:33
The Point: REVERSE the order of my normal
choices and decision I make regarding money
re-prioritize
here’s how:
First: GIVE TO GOD
Second: PAY MYSELF
Third: PAY MY TAXES
Fourth: GET OUT OF CONSUMER DEBT
Fifth: LIVE OFF THE REST!
For us to disentangle the whole money issue we need to get to the root - we’ve gotta look at the root issue of what causes us to make poor choices, stupid dec. - we could look at things like budgeting, or the details of how to go about investing - but if we don’t look at the root of what causes us to get in this
predicament time and time again then we’ll just go right back there
Sometimes roots are hard to extract, particularly in this area of our finances
Brief Insight: There is little difference in the financial
behavior of those INSIDE the church as opposed to those OUTSIDE of the church
Here’s why we can say that - b/c most church-going people struggle in this area just as much of those who do not make God a priority in life
The root is GREED
If I were to take an informal poll of those in the church I would venture to think they’d say Greed is wrong - however most people would also say, I’d like some more money
- let’s just see (hands)
How many of you wouldn’t mind having a little more money?
“I’m not greedy, I just want more money”
This is why this is good to talk about in this series, b/c we’ve all been there - we’ve made some bad choices/dec w/ our cold hard earned cash
I think most of our money problems and poor dec. come down to - What holds us captive? it is our selfish wants and desires and that boils down to greed, materialism
which brings us to the challenge of Jesus
The Challenge: I am RESPONSIBLE before God for the
way I live in regards to the money I have
You see God, the Creator of the Universe has this competing rival - and it is anything we put above Him - which always boils down our wants and desires and the root is Greed
From the Lips of Jesus
• How money has a power over us
Matthew 6:19-24
But here is Jesus talking about how we need to make wise dec. concerning our money and then He sticks in v.22,23
and then right back to making wise money chioces/dec.
We probably ought to ask, “What in the world is that ‘eye thing’ doing right in the smack middle of making wise money dec. ?
“Jesus said, ‘The eye is the lamp of the body. If your
eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light.
But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of
darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how
great is that darkness!’” Matthew 6:22-23
one level it’s very simple - if eyes work and light is on you can see all around - where chairs are and so forth...
If you eye isn’t working, even w/ a whole lot of light all around the room, then in a real sense you’re still in the dark.
right now you’re thinking, “Thank you Bible Scholar”
So to get some better perspective let’s look over to Luke where He also mentions the eye lamp thing then He goes on - look at
“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Watch out! Be on your guard
against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist
in the abundance of his possessions.’” Luke 12:15
What’s He talking about? Greed materialism - same stuff over in Matthew 6
Definition of Greed:
Inordinate DESIRE and/or DEPENDENCE on money and/or material things!
What’s that mean, ‘inordinate’ anyway
let’s unpack that, but write this down first
Jesus’ MAIN Point: Greed/Materialism has the peculiar
ability to BLIND me, to distort the way I SEE things in this world
Greed has the ability to blind you/me and the ability to distort everything, every choice, every dec. that we make
1st: Greed/Materialism has the power to blind me
to GREED & MATERIALISM!
If we were sitting there during the sermon on the mount - Matt. 6 and heard Jesus talking about making wise money dec. then the eye, lamp, light thing, then back to money we’d probably be thinking, “I don’t get it, what are you talking about, why did you put that in there?”
What I think is interesting is that Jesus is trying to get us to think
about this. But were saying, just tell us what to do
But Jesus wants us to really look at this
You see the thing here for us is this is the one issue in our world we see diff. than every other issue - that’s why Jesus says, It’s a problem of the eye -
Jesus never had to say to anybody, watch out you might be committing adultery - they know they are - they don’t say, gee whiz you’re not my wife - that doesn’t happen right?
but Jesus had to shout, watch out!
why b/c greed hides, it blinds us like nothing else
people may confess all kinds of things, lust, internet, bad behaviors, anger... but you never hear confessions of greed - why?
we don’t think that’s an issue - “Me - Greed?”
“I don’t make that much money” - we think of rich people right?
Here’s the thing, we all know somebody, friends, family, that are much more extravagant and excessive in their use of money than we are - isn’t that true - and thats all it takes - just to know somebody thats way out there in their use of money - so we say,
Me greedy, no way and Jesus says, watch out!
b/c most our dumb money dec. had to do w/ our selfish wants and desires, greed or materialism
2nd: Greed and materialism keeps me from
ASKING HARD QUESTIONS about my lifestyle
we don’t like to think about that - there’s always somebody we know who makes 3, 5, 10 times the amount of money we do - so we just don’t think we’re greedy
and we don’t think we need to ask the hard ?’s
like
Do I really NEED to SPEND this much money on this?
do I really NEED to spend that much money on those jeans?
do I really NEED to?
we don’t ask those tough ?’s and sometimes, alot of times that’s where the cc debt comes in
Are there ways I could save money in order to give more away?
Are there ways that I could be more generous?
As much as we don’t like to talk about it or hear about the money issues like this - Jesus talked about it all the time.
It’s in the Bible more than anything else - I wonder why?
B/c God knew how much we were going to fight against and struggle in this area
• Why money exercises power over us
“Jesus said, ‘For where your treasure is, there your
heart will be also.’” Matthew 6:21
The Point: The place where your heart really RESTS is revealed by money!
So what happens is we make unwise dec. b/c of where our heart really is. We think about ourselves.
in dealing with self, we use our heart, w/ others our head
we need to reverse that.
but what happens when we don’t reverse that is we make dec. based on our personal emotions and wants - here’s some
Money is a way…
...of gaining SIGNIFICANCE
we base our significance on our income, where we live, where we eat, dress - in reality people aren’t watching you that closely, they don’t really care, we care, that’s why we make those dec.
our sig. comes only in God
...of providing SECURITY
19"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. Matthew 6
once again - security only found in Christ Jesus
• How we can break its power over us?
“Jesus said, ‘But seek first his kingdom and his
righteousness, and all these things all these things
will be given to you as well.’” Matthew 6:33
The Point: REVERSE the order of my normal
choices and decision I make regarding money
re-prioritize
here’s how:
First: GIVE TO GOD
Second: PAY MYSELF
Third: PAY MY TAXES
Fourth: GET OUT OF CONSUMER DEBT
Fifth: LIVE OFF THE REST!
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Gray Matter - "I've Got Style"
Remember
• We are the SUM TOTAL of the decisions that we make
I firmly believe God wants us to make great, wise dec. in life
in all the choices that lay b4 us, God wants us to choose wisely
• Our decisions determine our DESTINY
that is sooo true - we’ve said this from the beg. - all of us have made some dumb, WWIT dec. in life and have suffered the conseq for them
Here’s what we’re gonna do today, we’re gonna look at who we are as people, how God has wired us up - b/c this has a major impact on how we make these dec. and choices in front of us everyday - who are you as a dec. maker?
as we begin to discover our design, the unique way God created each of us, I think we’ll see how heavily that influences the kind of choices and dec. we make
And we’ll see that our personalities impact our dec.
So let’s hone in on you - think only of yourselves - don’t nudge your spouse and say, aahh man, that is so you!
I want you to think and look at yourself today
Discover our Design in Decision Making
You’ve got style - what we need to understand is they no right or wrongs per-say - all of them have strengths and weaknesses which we need to know about OK - get paired w/ the opposite quite often, spouse, teammate, bro, sister - we need to know that others are diff. but today focus on yourself
Decision Making Styles:
• THE OVER-THINKER, OVER ANALYSIZER
do you make dec. like that - you find yourself playing over the sit/scenrio or dec. over and over over almost paralyzing yourself from making a dec. “I’m not sure, I don’t know what to do... so I’ll think about it some more
(I’ve gotta make the right career choice, this looks good, great benefits, it’s a good fit for me, but i don’t know, what if something better comes along? TAKE the job already!)
this person just thinks a bit too much and they turn stuff over, over, over like a rotisserie grill
who in the bible might be like this?
Biblical Character: MOSES - Exodus 3-4
over analyzer reluctant leader - constantly questioning himself - God tells him to go to pharaoh, moses says, oh God you got the wrong guy, I stststuder, I cant speak, how about my brother Aaron he’s the man, he’s like the game show talk host what about him? what if they don’t accept me? what if I mess up? what if I don’t do exactly what you want done?
w/ the over ana, over thinker - God doesn’t want you to live like that - He wants you to step out, but this person gets stuck often times
• THE UNDER-THINKER, IMPULSIVE Thinker
“I’d rather make a bad dec. than no dec. at all”
and they can make some wrong dec.”But I don’t care, I’m gonna make a dec. b/c I’m that kinda guy or gal”
Who’s impulsive in the bible?
Biblical Character: PETER - luke 22; matthew 14, 26
“Oh Jesus, I’ll never deny you, always be a follower - Jesus says, you’re gonna forget about me pretty quick, in fact this very night” in the garden they came to arrest Christ, what did Peter do - so funny he tried to fight the best trained fighting troops -
here’s this impulsive fisherman taking on the Navy Seals of the day and age - Peter was an impulsive guy
Remember: Under-thinkers/Impulsive thinkers make RASH decisions
next week - how many of you have made a an unwise, rash dec. w/ money? never let an impulsive, under-thinker control the checkbook - you just don’t
(checkout lanes knick knacks - impulsive - wal-mart displays)
marketing gurus know that
THE NON-CONFRONTATIONALIST, the NONBOAT ROCKING types
don’t wanna rock the boat, don’t wanna step on anybody’s toes
I’m just gonna shrink back into my shell, I’ll just keep quiet, even though... I wont say anything, even though I should
b/c I don’t wanna rock the boat - I don’t like conflict or I want everybody to like me
someone in scrip is guy by the name of Eli (OT Eli)
Biblical Character: ELI - 1 Samuel 2
He was a temple priest, he was totally clueless or chose to be clueless about his kids behavior - he has 2 sons, Hophni and Phinehas - idea for your next child - these kids were on the steroids of evil - out of control - they were having sex w/ the girls who worked in the temple - abusing the sacrificial system - Eli knew about alot of this stuff, yet did nothing about it - didn’t want to hurt them, step on their toes... probably didn’t want to look bad himself, so he ignored it - head in the sand
b/c he didn’t confront them his life was a tragedy - never lived up to what could have and should have been
• THE PLEASURE-SEEKER, FUN FILLED FANATIC
I’m sure we don’t have any pleasure seeking types here right
“When I make a dec. I just want it to be... fun”
“If it’s fun, I’m in - I’ll choose it, if it’s not, I’m not going there”
they may say i just wanna have fun, and hey God wants me to have fun
Remember: It’s not so much that God wants us
to be happy…He wants us to be OBEDIENT
and in that obedience comes joy - that’s why we 1st ask bible?
when facing dec. and choices we may not always feel like going in that direction (talked about basis of dumb, WWIT - if it feels right) you may not really want to go there, but if that’s God’s direction and we honor Him in those dec. the feelings will follow.
Biblical Character: SAMSON - Judges 14
He was like the biblical body builder - mr. atlas/m. univof his day
God kept telling him don’t mess around w/ the Philistines - they are what would be called, ungodly, so don’t associate w/ them it will only get you in trouble
So Samson chose the opposite - I’ll do what I want to do, b/c those Phil. can’t hang w/me anyway - he says, I’m gonna do what’s pleasurable - have you ever done that?
then somewhere down the road you’re wishing you wouldn’t have - so Samson tells his parents, his parents (maybe trying to find a loophole - how close can i get w/out getting burned)
“I’ve seen a Phil. woman, now go get her for me”
keep reading it says, She looks good to me - in other words, she’s a HOTTIE
b/c he went down that road of dec. making his life was a tragedy
what happened with him is he wasted yr. after yr. of great things he could have done for God but he chose to pleasure seek
instead, until he cycled back around to God - but so much wasted time - this is what we’re trying to avoid - we want to make a commitment to making great, wise dec.
• THE DOGMATIC decision maker, I’m RIGHT everyone else is WRONG Type
how many of you are married to that type?
they say i just know I’m right, i have made up my mind and it ain’t gonna change - this dogmatic I’m right dec. maker sees every dec. as an obstacle to overcome - so they’ll just knock down wall, after wall, after wall - you know what ends up happening - they can hurt people, anybody that gets in their way
They dont mind any collateral damage, people they may have stepped on on their way to a dec.
Biblical Character: PAUL - Acts 7-8
B4 he gave his life to Christ he was killing christians and he felt it was his way or the highway and he abused people. Then one day he met Jesus and he was tenderized on the inside by the work of the Spirit - God totally changed his life
Which tells me God can change anyone
• THE PROCRASTINATOR, SOMEDAY Decider
You know I’m not sure if I’m a procrastinator, I’ll get back to you on that one
Procras wait til the last minute right - put things off b/c of fear,
sometimes b/c of laziness - tomorrow I’ll get to that or next week
Acts 24
Biblical Character: FELIX
invited Paul to talk about Jesus, felix says vs. 25 go away for now - procrastinator, the bible says felix was convicted but sent Paul off anyway - when it’s more convenient I’ll call for you again - you know what saddens me, is that there are a huge # of people who are putting off, procras. about the greatest dec. of all time of their entire life just putting it off
maybe when I get my act together, you know sure I’ll do it, just not right now
You may be looking over this stuff today thinking well I kinda fit into this personality or that one and I see some of my weaknesses here - so how can I change those, what can I do?
We need to look at ourselves, our personalities, our natural
tendencies and the 1st step is to ask
Question: What does the BIBLE have to say?
it’s the God filter
The 2nd step for us in all the gray areas is ask what is the wise
If I’m impulsive, under-thinker then I can look at myself & ask,
In light of my PAST EXPERIENCES,
what is the WISE thing for me to do?
In light of my PRESENT CONDITIONS and circumstances,
what is the WISE thing for me to do?
In light of my FUTURE HOPES & DREAMS,
what is the WISE thing for me to do?
not what you feeel like doing, our natural tendencies may take us down the wrong road, so it’s good to know what those natural
tendencies are for us to make wise dec.
Key Concepts:
• Over-thinkers need to TRUST
• Under-thinkers need to WAIT
• Non-confrontationalists need to STAND
• Pleasure seekers need to OBEY
• Dogmatic decision makers need to FORGIVE
• Procrastinators need to DECIDE
• We are the SUM TOTAL of the decisions that we make
I firmly believe God wants us to make great, wise dec. in life
in all the choices that lay b4 us, God wants us to choose wisely
• Our decisions determine our DESTINY
that is sooo true - we’ve said this from the beg. - all of us have made some dumb, WWIT dec. in life and have suffered the conseq for them
Here’s what we’re gonna do today, we’re gonna look at who we are as people, how God has wired us up - b/c this has a major impact on how we make these dec. and choices in front of us everyday - who are you as a dec. maker?
as we begin to discover our design, the unique way God created each of us, I think we’ll see how heavily that influences the kind of choices and dec. we make
And we’ll see that our personalities impact our dec.
So let’s hone in on you - think only of yourselves - don’t nudge your spouse and say, aahh man, that is so you!
I want you to think and look at yourself today
Discover our Design in Decision Making
You’ve got style - what we need to understand is they no right or wrongs per-say - all of them have strengths and weaknesses which we need to know about OK - get paired w/ the opposite quite often, spouse, teammate, bro, sister - we need to know that others are diff. but today focus on yourself
Decision Making Styles:
• THE OVER-THINKER, OVER ANALYSIZER
do you make dec. like that - you find yourself playing over the sit/scenrio or dec. over and over over almost paralyzing yourself from making a dec. “I’m not sure, I don’t know what to do... so I’ll think about it some more
(I’ve gotta make the right career choice, this looks good, great benefits, it’s a good fit for me, but i don’t know, what if something better comes along? TAKE the job already!)
this person just thinks a bit too much and they turn stuff over, over, over like a rotisserie grill
who in the bible might be like this?
Biblical Character: MOSES - Exodus 3-4
over analyzer reluctant leader - constantly questioning himself - God tells him to go to pharaoh, moses says, oh God you got the wrong guy, I stststuder, I cant speak, how about my brother Aaron he’s the man, he’s like the game show talk host what about him? what if they don’t accept me? what if I mess up? what if I don’t do exactly what you want done?
w/ the over ana, over thinker - God doesn’t want you to live like that - He wants you to step out, but this person gets stuck often times
• THE UNDER-THINKER, IMPULSIVE Thinker
“I’d rather make a bad dec. than no dec. at all”
and they can make some wrong dec.”But I don’t care, I’m gonna make a dec. b/c I’m that kinda guy or gal”
Who’s impulsive in the bible?
Biblical Character: PETER - luke 22; matthew 14, 26
“Oh Jesus, I’ll never deny you, always be a follower - Jesus says, you’re gonna forget about me pretty quick, in fact this very night” in the garden they came to arrest Christ, what did Peter do - so funny he tried to fight the best trained fighting troops -
here’s this impulsive fisherman taking on the Navy Seals of the day and age - Peter was an impulsive guy
Remember: Under-thinkers/Impulsive thinkers make RASH decisions
next week - how many of you have made a an unwise, rash dec. w/ money? never let an impulsive, under-thinker control the checkbook - you just don’t
(checkout lanes knick knacks - impulsive - wal-mart displays)
marketing gurus know that
THE NON-CONFRONTATIONALIST, the NONBOAT ROCKING types
don’t wanna rock the boat, don’t wanna step on anybody’s toes
I’m just gonna shrink back into my shell, I’ll just keep quiet, even though... I wont say anything, even though I should
b/c I don’t wanna rock the boat - I don’t like conflict or I want everybody to like me
someone in scrip is guy by the name of Eli (OT Eli)
Biblical Character: ELI - 1 Samuel 2
He was a temple priest, he was totally clueless or chose to be clueless about his kids behavior - he has 2 sons, Hophni and Phinehas - idea for your next child - these kids were on the steroids of evil - out of control - they were having sex w/ the girls who worked in the temple - abusing the sacrificial system - Eli knew about alot of this stuff, yet did nothing about it - didn’t want to hurt them, step on their toes... probably didn’t want to look bad himself, so he ignored it - head in the sand
b/c he didn’t confront them his life was a tragedy - never lived up to what could have and should have been
• THE PLEASURE-SEEKER, FUN FILLED FANATIC
I’m sure we don’t have any pleasure seeking types here right
“When I make a dec. I just want it to be... fun”
“If it’s fun, I’m in - I’ll choose it, if it’s not, I’m not going there”
they may say i just wanna have fun, and hey God wants me to have fun
Remember: It’s not so much that God wants us
to be happy…He wants us to be OBEDIENT
and in that obedience comes joy - that’s why we 1st ask bible?
when facing dec. and choices we may not always feel like going in that direction (talked about basis of dumb, WWIT - if it feels right) you may not really want to go there, but if that’s God’s direction and we honor Him in those dec. the feelings will follow.
Biblical Character: SAMSON - Judges 14
He was like the biblical body builder - mr. atlas/m. univof his day
God kept telling him don’t mess around w/ the Philistines - they are what would be called, ungodly, so don’t associate w/ them it will only get you in trouble
So Samson chose the opposite - I’ll do what I want to do, b/c those Phil. can’t hang w/me anyway - he says, I’m gonna do what’s pleasurable - have you ever done that?
then somewhere down the road you’re wishing you wouldn’t have - so Samson tells his parents, his parents (maybe trying to find a loophole - how close can i get w/out getting burned)
“I’ve seen a Phil. woman, now go get her for me”
keep reading it says, She looks good to me - in other words, she’s a HOTTIE
b/c he went down that road of dec. making his life was a tragedy
what happened with him is he wasted yr. after yr. of great things he could have done for God but he chose to pleasure seek
instead, until he cycled back around to God - but so much wasted time - this is what we’re trying to avoid - we want to make a commitment to making great, wise dec.
• THE DOGMATIC decision maker, I’m RIGHT everyone else is WRONG Type
how many of you are married to that type?
they say i just know I’m right, i have made up my mind and it ain’t gonna change - this dogmatic I’m right dec. maker sees every dec. as an obstacle to overcome - so they’ll just knock down wall, after wall, after wall - you know what ends up happening - they can hurt people, anybody that gets in their way
They dont mind any collateral damage, people they may have stepped on on their way to a dec.
Biblical Character: PAUL - Acts 7-8
B4 he gave his life to Christ he was killing christians and he felt it was his way or the highway and he abused people. Then one day he met Jesus and he was tenderized on the inside by the work of the Spirit - God totally changed his life
Which tells me God can change anyone
• THE PROCRASTINATOR, SOMEDAY Decider
You know I’m not sure if I’m a procrastinator, I’ll get back to you on that one
Procras wait til the last minute right - put things off b/c of fear,
sometimes b/c of laziness - tomorrow I’ll get to that or next week
Acts 24
Biblical Character: FELIX
invited Paul to talk about Jesus, felix says vs. 25 go away for now - procrastinator, the bible says felix was convicted but sent Paul off anyway - when it’s more convenient I’ll call for you again - you know what saddens me, is that there are a huge # of people who are putting off, procras. about the greatest dec. of all time of their entire life just putting it off
maybe when I get my act together, you know sure I’ll do it, just not right now
You may be looking over this stuff today thinking well I kinda fit into this personality or that one and I see some of my weaknesses here - so how can I change those, what can I do?
We need to look at ourselves, our personalities, our natural
tendencies and the 1st step is to ask
Question: What does the BIBLE have to say?
it’s the God filter
The 2nd step for us in all the gray areas is ask what is the wise
If I’m impulsive, under-thinker then I can look at myself & ask,
In light of my PAST EXPERIENCES,
what is the WISE thing for me to do?
In light of my PRESENT CONDITIONS and circumstances,
what is the WISE thing for me to do?
In light of my FUTURE HOPES & DREAMS,
what is the WISE thing for me to do?
not what you feeel like doing, our natural tendencies may take us down the wrong road, so it’s good to know what those natural
tendencies are for us to make wise dec.
Key Concepts:
• Over-thinkers need to TRUST
• Under-thinkers need to WAIT
• Non-confrontationalists need to STAND
• Pleasure seekers need to OBEY
• Dogmatic decision makers need to FORGIVE
• Procrastinators need to DECIDE
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Gray Matter - "Hard Nuts to Crack"
How many of you have ever made a dumb dec.?
Important Point: One thing we ALL have in COMMON is that
we’ve all done some pretty DUMB stuff
(tongue on cold pipe - relationships - money - cars you never should have bought) - we all have stories, we all have these chapters in our lives we wish we could re-write.
So last week we looked at the greatest dec. maker of all time, Jesus and we discovered the 1st place for us to start is bible.
When making decisions, the first question to ask:
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE HAVE TO SAY?
now there’s a 2nd ? to ask - this ? you’ve probably heard b4
I believe we could ask this ? to every layer of our lives - in every opportunity, this ? would help us in our marriages,
in every rela., in the way we parent our kids, in the way we handle our money,
... our morality - this ? has the potential to send us down the path of tremendous success - and the ? is not what is the right thing to do, the moral... the permissible thing... the culturally acceptable thing to do - it is the ? my parents and yours too maybe would ask me all the time
When making decisions, the second question to ask:
WHAT IS THE WISE THING TO DO?
here’s 3 more layers to the ? - to make us dig a little deeper
In light of my PAST EXPERIENCES,
what is the wise thing for me to do?
In light of my PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES,
what is the wise thing for me to do?
In light of MY FUTURE HOPES and DREAMS,
what is the wise thing for me to do?
So if we put that into context, let’s say relationally, financially, morally, who I date, where I date, where I go
In light of my PAST EXPERIENCES,
PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES, MY FUTURE HOPES and DREAMS, what is the wise thing for me to do?
You see God says, like here is the level He’d like me to live - it’s not a level of simply what’s legal - we need to understand that - it’s not what is culturally permissible, it’s not just, what is allowable out there - God’s ? is the same ? my parents would ask me as a child - WHAT IS THE WISE THING TO DO?
I do like adding the other 3 layers ^
b/c it makes us have to think - that is where what we talked about last week, when people say, Oh let your conscience be your guide” - we said sure if it’s saturated in the truth - this is how that comes into play - WHAT IS THE WISE THING TO DO?
People have always asked the ? what does the Bible say about this or that - b/c in searching you may not find a direct answer to that. So right away you can see the hard-drive of their mind working, thinking, “well if God is not against it, He must be for it” right?
So the temptation for us then is to ? where’s the line?
between right and wrong, moral and immoral
so the tendency becomes, how close can I get to the fire w/out being burned, w/out facing the consequences - the ? ought not to be what can i get away with, not what is right or wrong, but what so many of our parents drilled into our heads - WHAT IS THE WISE THING TO DO? for me to do - not everybody else out there - jump off a cliff?
It’s different than trying to find if there is a verse in scripture that is against it, or where is the line, how far can i go?
b/c what we’ll find if we really search thru scrip. we will find a direction to head in that leads us to ask then WHAT IS THE WISE THING TO DO?
for example - drinking/sex
So what happens is it causes us to think right, that’s why we’re doing this series, b/c I want you to have think b/c so much of life falls into that gray area
People have different responses... I’m fine, it’s all good, Im not an alcoholic, I’m not gonna get in trouble, you sound like my over-reactive parent, another is... “ I understand what you’re talking about, and I'm old enough to know what to do, the difference between right and wrong and I don’t care, I’m gonna do what I want to do. I know the conseq. and I don’t care, I’m gonna do what I want to do. another is... “ahhh, you are so narrow minded and people like you are dangerous to this country
b/c you wanna impose you ideology and agenda upon us, you’re pathetic”
In this book, the Bible it gives us the descriptions of these 3 individuals - so that’s what we’re gonna look at today.
the Naive, the Fool, and the Mocker
Kinds of People:
First: The NAÏVE
If you’re naive you don’t admit it - never met anyone who said, “you know problem is, I’m just naive” nobody ever does that, b/c by the time you figure it out you’re not anymore right?
This is kinda tough to talk about b/c if you’re younger, jr. high, high school it sounds like an insult for somebody to say you’re naive. It’s not an insult - why?
Principle of Life: EVERYONE COMES into this world naïve
The naïve person lacks experience so they think they can
FIGURE OUT life on their own!
You can only have so much experience by the time your 14 or 15 or 18 right? It’s not a putdown, it sounds like a personal slam, but it’s not
But since the naive lack experience, they think they can figure life out on their own - have you ever been there?
B/c they’ve never seen any evidence to the contrary other than mom and dad saying, “you better listen, when I was your age”
Open to Proverbs 7 - what you’ll see is there is this wise person
standing at a window looking out & they see a naive person walking down the street, & they know the direction the naive person is heading - they’re walking to the part of town where the prostitutes come out at nite
“At the window of my house I looked out through the lattice. I saw among the simple, I noticed among the young men, a youth who lacked judgment.” Proverbs 7:6-7
“He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of her house.” Proverbs 7:8
“All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter…” Proverbs 7:22
Remember: At certain stages of our lives, we lack
EXPERIENCE therefore we lack JUDGMENT
This is why young college students get so many credit card apps - why? - b/c they are naive, an 18 or 20yr. has never woke up 1 morning buried in 15, 18, 20,000 dollars of cc debt.
they’ve never exper. that - they don’t know what it means to feel that kind of bondage and pressure and the cc companies know that - so they reward them w/ the opportunity to ruin their lives financially - why? b/c they know they’ll take advantage of b/c they’re naive.
young ones smoking - their peers are fine with it for the most part - but you never see an adult, my age saying, “WOW! that kid is sooo coool - he’s smoking!” - ahhh so naive
if you’re 14, 15, 16, you’ve never coughed up a lung, you’ve never heard your doctor say, the lung cancer is taking over
Our naiveté causes us not to LISTEN
But the solution is to ask what’s wise? and to trust in God and Word
Second: The FOOL
The fool says, I know the DIFFERENCE between right and
wrong, but frankly I just don’t CARE
Some1 may say to the fool, “do you realize if you keep up that way it could really damage you marriage... or if you keep carrying on that way in your finances that things are gonna get bad”
Yeah I thought about but I really don’t care, besides I’ll deal w/that later - look at what the bible says
“A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct, but a man of understanding delights in wisdom.” Proverbs 10:23
“As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.” Proverbs 26:11
Ever see a dog return to it’s vomit (Here I have a video for you - just kidding)
They do the same thing over and over and over again - and they know there’s conseq.
There’s no new info. to a fool, it’s always,” i know, i know, i know
then why aren’t you concerned? b/c I just don’t give a rip, I don’t care & they may not verbally say that, but their actions prove it.
and you know what the bible says is the only way a fool changes? is they hit bottom
If you try to correct a fool, they will IGNORE you
Remember: The only way a fool changes is to face the
FULL consequences of their decisions
warnings don’t work, threats don’t work - it’s only when the wheels come off - it’s only when they hit hard enough they say, “OK I’ve had it” - WHY? b/c the fool has to learn.... the hard way
can I just tell you that here at FOCUS* it’s our heart to love, accept, and forgive - regardless - that’s our heart.
“…a companion of fools suffers harm.” Proverbs 13:20
We talked about this last week, our dec. affect those around us -
here’s scrip. showing us that - here the fool says, “Oh it only affects me, it doesn’t matter” - but it does matter. The bible tells us those close to you feel the brunt of your dec. and choices.
Many of you already know that b/c you’ve exper. it (my home)
Third: The MOCKER
The Mocker knows the difference between right and wrong and chooses to do what they want to do, but unlike the fool,
they have chosen to be CRITICAL of those choosing and doing right things!
If you try to correct a mocker, they will HATE you!
They’ll criticize you, make of fun of your stance, ridicule you
They just sorta sit in judgement of everyone else
(often we want to just blast right back don’t we?)
So when we even loving try to talk to them, they don’t want any part of it
We’ve all seen this haven’t we? All 3 of these - maybe, just maybe we have displayed some of one of these in our lives.
BIBLE
So... WHAT IS THE WISE THING TO DO?
“Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech: ‘How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you.
But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke... the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy
them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.’” Proverbs 1:20-33
(hands) How many of you would like to live in safety, be at ease, and w/out fear of harm?
Two Questions:
Question #1: Where are you SITTING today?
It may not be in every area of life
This series is all about a 4th place - that is the seat of wisdom
Question #2: In light of my past experiences, in light of my
present conditions and circumstances and in light of my future
hopes and dreams…Which SEAT do you want to SIT in?
I know what all of you are thinking?
Remembering God can work thru our “If only’s”
So we ask... What does the Bible have to say? and in the gray...
In light of my PAST EXPERIENCES,
PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES, MY FUTURE HOPES
and DREAMS, what is the wise thing for me to do?
Important Point: One thing we ALL have in COMMON is that
we’ve all done some pretty DUMB stuff
(tongue on cold pipe - relationships - money - cars you never should have bought) - we all have stories, we all have these chapters in our lives we wish we could re-write.
So last week we looked at the greatest dec. maker of all time, Jesus and we discovered the 1st place for us to start is bible.
When making decisions, the first question to ask:
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE HAVE TO SAY?
now there’s a 2nd ? to ask - this ? you’ve probably heard b4
I believe we could ask this ? to every layer of our lives - in every opportunity, this ? would help us in our marriages,
in every rela., in the way we parent our kids, in the way we handle our money,
... our morality - this ? has the potential to send us down the path of tremendous success - and the ? is not what is the right thing to do, the moral... the permissible thing... the culturally acceptable thing to do - it is the ? my parents and yours too maybe would ask me all the time
When making decisions, the second question to ask:
WHAT IS THE WISE THING TO DO?
here’s 3 more layers to the ? - to make us dig a little deeper
In light of my PAST EXPERIENCES,
what is the wise thing for me to do?
In light of my PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES,
what is the wise thing for me to do?
In light of MY FUTURE HOPES and DREAMS,
what is the wise thing for me to do?
So if we put that into context, let’s say relationally, financially, morally, who I date, where I date, where I go
In light of my PAST EXPERIENCES,
PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES, MY FUTURE HOPES and DREAMS, what is the wise thing for me to do?
You see God says, like here is the level He’d like me to live - it’s not a level of simply what’s legal - we need to understand that - it’s not what is culturally permissible, it’s not just, what is allowable out there - God’s ? is the same ? my parents would ask me as a child - WHAT IS THE WISE THING TO DO?
I do like adding the other 3 layers ^
b/c it makes us have to think - that is where what we talked about last week, when people say, Oh let your conscience be your guide” - we said sure if it’s saturated in the truth - this is how that comes into play - WHAT IS THE WISE THING TO DO?
People have always asked the ? what does the Bible say about this or that - b/c in searching you may not find a direct answer to that. So right away you can see the hard-drive of their mind working, thinking, “well if God is not against it, He must be for it” right?
So the temptation for us then is to ? where’s the line?
between right and wrong, moral and immoral
so the tendency becomes, how close can I get to the fire w/out being burned, w/out facing the consequences - the ? ought not to be what can i get away with, not what is right or wrong, but what so many of our parents drilled into our heads - WHAT IS THE WISE THING TO DO? for me to do - not everybody else out there - jump off a cliff?
It’s different than trying to find if there is a verse in scripture that is against it, or where is the line, how far can i go?
b/c what we’ll find if we really search thru scrip. we will find a direction to head in that leads us to ask then WHAT IS THE WISE THING TO DO?
for example - drinking/sex
So what happens is it causes us to think right, that’s why we’re doing this series, b/c I want you to have think b/c so much of life falls into that gray area
People have different responses... I’m fine, it’s all good, Im not an alcoholic, I’m not gonna get in trouble, you sound like my over-reactive parent, another is... “ I understand what you’re talking about, and I'm old enough to know what to do, the difference between right and wrong and I don’t care, I’m gonna do what I want to do. I know the conseq. and I don’t care, I’m gonna do what I want to do. another is... “ahhh, you are so narrow minded and people like you are dangerous to this country
b/c you wanna impose you ideology and agenda upon us, you’re pathetic”
In this book, the Bible it gives us the descriptions of these 3 individuals - so that’s what we’re gonna look at today.
the Naive, the Fool, and the Mocker
Kinds of People:
First: The NAÏVE
If you’re naive you don’t admit it - never met anyone who said, “you know problem is, I’m just naive” nobody ever does that, b/c by the time you figure it out you’re not anymore right?
This is kinda tough to talk about b/c if you’re younger, jr. high, high school it sounds like an insult for somebody to say you’re naive. It’s not an insult - why?
Principle of Life: EVERYONE COMES into this world naïve
The naïve person lacks experience so they think they can
FIGURE OUT life on their own!
You can only have so much experience by the time your 14 or 15 or 18 right? It’s not a putdown, it sounds like a personal slam, but it’s not
But since the naive lack experience, they think they can figure life out on their own - have you ever been there?
B/c they’ve never seen any evidence to the contrary other than mom and dad saying, “you better listen, when I was your age”
Open to Proverbs 7 - what you’ll see is there is this wise person
standing at a window looking out & they see a naive person walking down the street, & they know the direction the naive person is heading - they’re walking to the part of town where the prostitutes come out at nite
“At the window of my house I looked out through the lattice. I saw among the simple, I noticed among the young men, a youth who lacked judgment.” Proverbs 7:6-7
“He was going down the street near her corner, walking along in the direction of her house.” Proverbs 7:8
“All at once he followed her like an ox going to the slaughter…” Proverbs 7:22
Remember: At certain stages of our lives, we lack
EXPERIENCE therefore we lack JUDGMENT
This is why young college students get so many credit card apps - why? - b/c they are naive, an 18 or 20yr. has never woke up 1 morning buried in 15, 18, 20,000 dollars of cc debt.
they’ve never exper. that - they don’t know what it means to feel that kind of bondage and pressure and the cc companies know that - so they reward them w/ the opportunity to ruin their lives financially - why? b/c they know they’ll take advantage of b/c they’re naive.
young ones smoking - their peers are fine with it for the most part - but you never see an adult, my age saying, “WOW! that kid is sooo coool - he’s smoking!” - ahhh so naive
if you’re 14, 15, 16, you’ve never coughed up a lung, you’ve never heard your doctor say, the lung cancer is taking over
Our naiveté causes us not to LISTEN
But the solution is to ask what’s wise? and to trust in God and Word
Second: The FOOL
The fool says, I know the DIFFERENCE between right and
wrong, but frankly I just don’t CARE
Some1 may say to the fool, “do you realize if you keep up that way it could really damage you marriage... or if you keep carrying on that way in your finances that things are gonna get bad”
Yeah I thought about but I really don’t care, besides I’ll deal w/that later - look at what the bible says
“A fool finds pleasure in evil conduct, but a man of understanding delights in wisdom.” Proverbs 10:23
“As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.” Proverbs 26:11
Ever see a dog return to it’s vomit (Here I have a video for you - just kidding)
They do the same thing over and over and over again - and they know there’s conseq.
There’s no new info. to a fool, it’s always,” i know, i know, i know
then why aren’t you concerned? b/c I just don’t give a rip, I don’t care & they may not verbally say that, but their actions prove it.
and you know what the bible says is the only way a fool changes? is they hit bottom
If you try to correct a fool, they will IGNORE you
Remember: The only way a fool changes is to face the
FULL consequences of their decisions
warnings don’t work, threats don’t work - it’s only when the wheels come off - it’s only when they hit hard enough they say, “OK I’ve had it” - WHY? b/c the fool has to learn.... the hard way
can I just tell you that here at FOCUS* it’s our heart to love, accept, and forgive - regardless - that’s our heart.
“…a companion of fools suffers harm.” Proverbs 13:20
We talked about this last week, our dec. affect those around us -
here’s scrip. showing us that - here the fool says, “Oh it only affects me, it doesn’t matter” - but it does matter. The bible tells us those close to you feel the brunt of your dec. and choices.
Many of you already know that b/c you’ve exper. it (my home)
Third: The MOCKER
The Mocker knows the difference between right and wrong and chooses to do what they want to do, but unlike the fool,
they have chosen to be CRITICAL of those choosing and doing right things!
If you try to correct a mocker, they will HATE you!
They’ll criticize you, make of fun of your stance, ridicule you
They just sorta sit in judgement of everyone else
(often we want to just blast right back don’t we?)
So when we even loving try to talk to them, they don’t want any part of it
We’ve all seen this haven’t we? All 3 of these - maybe, just maybe we have displayed some of one of these in our lives.
BIBLE
So... WHAT IS THE WISE THING TO DO?
“Wisdom calls aloud in the street, she raises her voice in the public squares; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out, in the gateways of the city she makes her speech: ‘How long will you simple ones love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? If you had responded to my rebuke, I would have poured out my heart to you and made my thoughts known to you.
But since you rejected me when I called and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand, since you ignored all my advice and would not accept my rebuke... the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy
them; but whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm.’” Proverbs 1:20-33
(hands) How many of you would like to live in safety, be at ease, and w/out fear of harm?
Two Questions:
Question #1: Where are you SITTING today?
It may not be in every area of life
This series is all about a 4th place - that is the seat of wisdom
Question #2: In light of my past experiences, in light of my
present conditions and circumstances and in light of my future
hopes and dreams…Which SEAT do you want to SIT in?
I know what all of you are thinking?
Remembering God can work thru our “If only’s”
So we ask... What does the Bible have to say? and in the gray...
In light of my PAST EXPERIENCES,
PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES, MY FUTURE HOPES
and DREAMS, what is the wise thing for me to do?
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Gray Matter - "What was I Thinking?"
What was I Thinking?
People do stupid things. We watch a video like that and laugh and say to ourselves or out loud, “How incredibly stupid these people are.”
I was thinking, wouldn’t this be intriguing to do if we started maybe in the back and went around to each table, person by person and we all shared the dumbest thing we’ve ever done.
I’d imagine there’d be a few stories there. Some money we wish we wouldn’t have spent, relationships we wish we wouldn’t have gotten into, deals we wish we would have never done, investments maybe? we wish we would never taken a part of, partnerships you never entered into - oh, how about dates you wish you never gone out on, how about invitations you wish you never would have received?
I think all of us can look back, in some cases for some of us it was a night, for some it was a weekend, for some it was several months - others, entire yrs. we wish we could go back and re-write chapters of our lives - choices and decisions we’d like to have a “do-over” on, right?
So here’s the premise of this series we’re kicking off
Here’s The Key Idea of This Series:
Life is ALL about DECISIONS/CHOICES
Stop and think about all the relationships, money, deals, the choices - It’s now obvious to us how stupid we were. We look at that now and say to ourselves, “How could I have been so dumb” It’s obvious to us now that some of those decisions fall into “What was I thinking” dumb dec. and now...
we run into people going down that dumb road, be it a child, friend, whoever and you’re saying, “you don’t want to go there brother”
When we are presented in life a series of choices and we chose to look at them wisely, make wise dec. we get the most out of life - those who don’t take that approach, the chances are in this world we live in, we stand to suffer some pretty sever consequences
As we start this series today and what we’re going to look at over the next few weeks we’re going to talk about how to become great dec. makers
B/c you and I both know life is all about choices and dec.
So right off the bat let’s lay down some foundation
Key Foundational Points:
• We are all the SUM TOTAL of the choices we make!
• Our decisions determine our DESTINY.
I think we can all look back at a series of choices and dumb dec.
we’ve made and say, What was I Thinking?
I know i can - (buying thunderbird in Cal.)
My idea behind this series is that I’d like all of us to make a
commitment to making great dec.
We have this privilege given to us by God to make dec. it’s God given, to reason, ponder, wager, rationalize
animals can’t do that like humans can and the reason we’re diff. b/c we as people were made in the image of God and God is a great dec. maker and He wants us all to be great dec. makers.
and... dec. making is not an event, we need to all realize that,
dec. making is a process that is followed by an event - so when we view it as an event that’s what gets us into trouble so many times and we spend days, weeks, months dog paddling in the pools of regret - so how do we make wise dec?
There is a diff. between the big dec. in life and the little ones but they also inter-connect
We all face these big, huge dec. right?
I think 2 of the biggest dec. we’ll ever make in life are: who’s your master? Who’s your mate? those are big dec
but there are also the little dec. we make daily, everyday
You see the little dec. we make daily, where you work, who you hang out with, where you spend your time, what you spend your time doing... who you spend... what u watch... listen to...those little dec when they collect lead to big issues
When I was younger I was a sports freak - i loved and played everything and in HS I was a pretty good basketball player - good enough to get invites to schools but not good enough to get any scholarships to these schools therfore it ended there.
Sometimes I’d see these BB camps for adults to go and learn the game from these superstars like Magic, MJ and so forth and you learn the intricacies of the game and work-out hard and only eat grapefruit or something... but I’d think, “Oh I’d love that - to learn from the best”
There’s something about us that wants to learn from the best
If you have a child who could sing or play and instrument wouldn’t it be cool if you could pick up the phone and have like Sting or Harry Connick Jr. or someone like that teach your child? Or if you love golf, if you get sit and learn from Tiger Woods? Hang out for a couple of days and just twik your game?
That would be really cool
So here’s what we’re going to do today, we’re going to learn from the greatest dec. maker of all time - we’re gonna learn from someone who never made a bad call, someone who never over-reacted, some1 who never said anything they regretted, some1 who never got carried away by their feelings - you know who I’m talkin about - ? - Jesus, our perfect role model.
I don’t know if you know this but as Jesus grew up He was a Carpenter, but the last 36 mo. of His life He was a traveling preacher - the bible tells us that a guy named John baptized Him into what we would call ministry, and after He was baptized the bible tells us He went off into the wilderness. He didn’t ride in an H2 or 4x4, He walked - now I’ve never been there to that area but I read about it and it’s a desert w/ this huge towering mounds it’s a tough area to live for 40 days and nites that would be tough in & of itself, but the bible tells us that jesus fasted the entire time- he went w/out food
How many of you have ever fasted for 1 day? 3 days? 1 week?
ever go 40 days?
He was emotionally, physically, spiritually drained and the Devil comes along and gives Jesus a series of choices and dec - the Devil comes up w/ these dec to throw Jesus off track, off His purpose... listen to settle... He wanted to Jesus to make a dumb, what was I thinking dec.
So let’s try to picture this scenario... Jesus hadn’t eaten in 40 days, 40 nites and the Devil says, look at those rocks, don’t you think those rocks look like big beautiful loaves of bread - there’s nothing like bread, carbs... when you’re hungry - so he says Jesus why don’t you snap your fingers and turn those rocks into a loaf of Wonder bread - look at what Jesus said,
“But Jesus told him (Satan), ‘No! The Scriptures say, ‘People
need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every
word of God.’” Matthew 4:4 - ok then look what Satan says next
Hey throw yourself down from this high place, you’re not gonna die, people will see this miracle and they’ll follow you, it’d be better than David Blain - so what would Jesus do w/ that kind of dec?
“Jesus responded, ‘The Scriptures also say, ‘Do not test the
Lord your God.’” Matthew 4:7
So the Devil turned up the heat a bit, tried to sweeten the pot, which by the way is what happens to us alot when we’re put in situations of compromising dec. making
The Devil says, Jesus bow down and worship me and I’ll give you everything (which is kinda silly when you think about it, what can you give Jesus, the creator of all things? but remember the drained state Jesus is in and.... once again... He is our perfect model knowing we will face these kind of tough decisions in life)
So what did Jesus say,
“’Get out of here, Satan,’ Jesus told him. ‘For the Scriptures
say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God; serve only him.’”
Matthew 4:10
Now there was a common phrase used in each circumstance, did you catch that? what was it
‘For the Scriptures say,
so what is the 1st question we should ask facing any dec?
The First Question to Ask with Any and All Decisions and/or Choices in Life
What DOES THE BIBLE have to say?
Jesus went 3 for 3 - it’s the 1st ever recorded threepeat
‘For the Scriptures say,(3)
What was goin on? How did Jesus make the dec. He asked Himself a very simple ? what does the bible say?
If it’s in this book, then I got a green light and i’ll go for it, if it’s not then it’s a red light I’m not gonna go there.
In all the dec. we make, the big and the little where’s the 1st place to start? what does the bible have to say about this.
You know I have talked to a # people over the yrs. and heard their tough stories - so many of them start w/ “If only...”
If only... I had said No to that relationship ...hadn’t said that to my spouse or son or daughter ... I hadn’t put my money in that ... hadn’t been so greedy, so stubborn ... so selfish - If only (3)
Now here’s an amazing thing about God - He can work thru your “If only’s” and He can use your past as leverage to help you in the future - to make wise great dec. that’ll give you a wonderful future - Jer. 29:11
So the 1st place to start is asking and answering what does the bible have to say? This is what jesus modeled.
God wrote a book. It’s a love letter to all of us and... He put His counsel down on these pages for a # of reasons - let me share just a couple w/ you -
God’s heart in giving us His Word:
• So we can have the BEST LIFE POSSIBLE
So we can discover God has an awesome plan for our lives.
We would be amazed at how great our dec. can be, both big & little - by just spending time in this book.
• Because God wants to help us HELP OURSELVES & OTHERS
He wants us to make great dec. not only for our own benefit but to also help and influence others... influence others
b/c for us to think ‘my dec really don’t affect other people, they really don’t, you just have to do what’s right by you’ - you are sadly mistaken with that thought process - b/c our dec. do affect others - we are connected. Especially those close to you, family, children, sister, brother, nephew, niece, friends, co-workers are looking at your life and dec.
• Because God wants us to make the MOST OF OUR TIME
Think about this, time is a gift from God that we can’t go back and get some more of & the older I get the more I wonder where did all the time go? As I watch my girls grow up - all the more reason to make wise dec. Let me ask... hands
How many of you have wasted a certain amount of time in your life, whole periods, weeks, months, possibly yrs. of your life b/c of dumb dec. & choices?
So if I will look to God’s Word to make dec. I’ll see He has my best interest at heart, for the best life possible, to not only kelp me, but others - to make good use of my time for what’s really important.
But you know not everybody takes that approach, not only in dec. making but life in gen. - they don’t have a certain set of standards, just kinda fall into relativism - “if it works for me it works, it may not work for you, but hey, that’s OK - no need for any absolutes b/c my standards may be diff. than yours”
(Prof. at Univ. hands test w/ series of ?’s and answers - just circle the answer you feel is right, there’s no right or wrongs just what you want - you’d be thinking what’s he smokin? - what kind of test is this? a standardless, baseless test it’s useless)
So when we don’t use God’s Word or Him as our absolute then everything becomes relative, everything sorta slides on scale and if I make dec. that way I get messed up pretty quickly
and the reason why so many make dumb, what was I thinking dec. is b/c we look to ourselves instead of God - like
what are some of the things we have said when we go w/ ourselves, things we’ve said a time or 2
The Basis of “What was I thinking?” Dumb Decisions
• “Go with YOUR HEART”
Yeah you’ll bat a thousand doing that wont ya - right 100%?
• “Let your CONSCIENCE be your GUIDE”
but what peeks your consc. may not peek mine so it’s the sliding scale - your consc is important in dec. making when it’s saturated in the Truth - it’s gotta be tied into that
• “If it FEELS RIGHT”
Hey, I didn’t feel like getting out of bed this morning
or some1 may say I don’t feel like loving you anymore - our feelings are fickle (Cathleen story) we cannot trust our feelings
they’re to up and down - sometimes I don’t feel like going to work... school.... reading this book... or praying
• “What you do in the PRIVACY of your OWN HOME is your own business.”
Sure I can agree w/ that to a certain extent but we need to know this - private dec. always go public - so often what’s made in private has personal ramifications - b/c people carry out their lives and live in public - so whatever dec. made in private, remember, affect and influence those around us, sometimes
directly, sometimes indirectly. - base them on the truth.
So the 1st question everybody needs to ask themselves before making a dec. is.... What does the Bible say?
How much better would life be? We wouldn’t be wallowing in self-pity or the pools of regret if we just asked... what
1 problem with this is not everything is so black and white is it?
So what do you do w/ the other 15-20% - what I’ve found and have done myself is ask the ? - how close can I get to this and still not sin? b/c if I haven’t crossed over the line then it’s what?
OK? Is it? How far can i go w/out breaking the law? How close to immorality can i get w/out being immoral? How much can i stretch, how much can i bend w/out actually breaking any?
Is it legal... moral... permissible - and when we go down that line, oh.. that line is often oh so fuzzy - how close can i get w/out disaster - we need a standard, if it’s not illegal, then it must be...
OK - how far is too far? So in these gray areas are there other ?’s we need to ask? I think there are, but you’ll have to come back next week.
People do stupid things. We watch a video like that and laugh and say to ourselves or out loud, “How incredibly stupid these people are.”
I was thinking, wouldn’t this be intriguing to do if we started maybe in the back and went around to each table, person by person and we all shared the dumbest thing we’ve ever done.
I’d imagine there’d be a few stories there. Some money we wish we wouldn’t have spent, relationships we wish we wouldn’t have gotten into, deals we wish we would have never done, investments maybe? we wish we would never taken a part of, partnerships you never entered into - oh, how about dates you wish you never gone out on, how about invitations you wish you never would have received?
I think all of us can look back, in some cases for some of us it was a night, for some it was a weekend, for some it was several months - others, entire yrs. we wish we could go back and re-write chapters of our lives - choices and decisions we’d like to have a “do-over” on, right?
So here’s the premise of this series we’re kicking off
Here’s The Key Idea of This Series:
Life is ALL about DECISIONS/CHOICES
Stop and think about all the relationships, money, deals, the choices - It’s now obvious to us how stupid we were. We look at that now and say to ourselves, “How could I have been so dumb” It’s obvious to us now that some of those decisions fall into “What was I thinking” dumb dec. and now...
we run into people going down that dumb road, be it a child, friend, whoever and you’re saying, “you don’t want to go there brother”
When we are presented in life a series of choices and we chose to look at them wisely, make wise dec. we get the most out of life - those who don’t take that approach, the chances are in this world we live in, we stand to suffer some pretty sever consequences
As we start this series today and what we’re going to look at over the next few weeks we’re going to talk about how to become great dec. makers
B/c you and I both know life is all about choices and dec.
So right off the bat let’s lay down some foundation
Key Foundational Points:
• We are all the SUM TOTAL of the choices we make!
• Our decisions determine our DESTINY.
I think we can all look back at a series of choices and dumb dec.
we’ve made and say, What was I Thinking?
I know i can - (buying thunderbird in Cal.)
My idea behind this series is that I’d like all of us to make a
commitment to making great dec.
We have this privilege given to us by God to make dec. it’s God given, to reason, ponder, wager, rationalize
animals can’t do that like humans can and the reason we’re diff. b/c we as people were made in the image of God and God is a great dec. maker and He wants us all to be great dec. makers.
and... dec. making is not an event, we need to all realize that,
dec. making is a process that is followed by an event - so when we view it as an event that’s what gets us into trouble so many times and we spend days, weeks, months dog paddling in the pools of regret - so how do we make wise dec?
There is a diff. between the big dec. in life and the little ones but they also inter-connect
We all face these big, huge dec. right?
I think 2 of the biggest dec. we’ll ever make in life are: who’s your master? Who’s your mate? those are big dec
but there are also the little dec. we make daily, everyday
You see the little dec. we make daily, where you work, who you hang out with, where you spend your time, what you spend your time doing... who you spend... what u watch... listen to...those little dec when they collect lead to big issues
When I was younger I was a sports freak - i loved and played everything and in HS I was a pretty good basketball player - good enough to get invites to schools but not good enough to get any scholarships to these schools therfore it ended there.
Sometimes I’d see these BB camps for adults to go and learn the game from these superstars like Magic, MJ and so forth and you learn the intricacies of the game and work-out hard and only eat grapefruit or something... but I’d think, “Oh I’d love that - to learn from the best”
There’s something about us that wants to learn from the best
If you have a child who could sing or play and instrument wouldn’t it be cool if you could pick up the phone and have like Sting or Harry Connick Jr. or someone like that teach your child? Or if you love golf, if you get sit and learn from Tiger Woods? Hang out for a couple of days and just twik your game?
That would be really cool
So here’s what we’re going to do today, we’re going to learn from the greatest dec. maker of all time - we’re gonna learn from someone who never made a bad call, someone who never over-reacted, some1 who never said anything they regretted, some1 who never got carried away by their feelings - you know who I’m talkin about - ? - Jesus, our perfect role model.
I don’t know if you know this but as Jesus grew up He was a Carpenter, but the last 36 mo. of His life He was a traveling preacher - the bible tells us that a guy named John baptized Him into what we would call ministry, and after He was baptized the bible tells us He went off into the wilderness. He didn’t ride in an H2 or 4x4, He walked - now I’ve never been there to that area but I read about it and it’s a desert w/ this huge towering mounds it’s a tough area to live for 40 days and nites that would be tough in & of itself, but the bible tells us that jesus fasted the entire time- he went w/out food
How many of you have ever fasted for 1 day? 3 days? 1 week?
ever go 40 days?
He was emotionally, physically, spiritually drained and the Devil comes along and gives Jesus a series of choices and dec - the Devil comes up w/ these dec to throw Jesus off track, off His purpose... listen to settle... He wanted to Jesus to make a dumb, what was I thinking dec.
So let’s try to picture this scenario... Jesus hadn’t eaten in 40 days, 40 nites and the Devil says, look at those rocks, don’t you think those rocks look like big beautiful loaves of bread - there’s nothing like bread, carbs... when you’re hungry - so he says Jesus why don’t you snap your fingers and turn those rocks into a loaf of Wonder bread - look at what Jesus said,
“But Jesus told him (Satan), ‘No! The Scriptures say, ‘People
need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every
word of God.’” Matthew 4:4 - ok then look what Satan says next
Hey throw yourself down from this high place, you’re not gonna die, people will see this miracle and they’ll follow you, it’d be better than David Blain - so what would Jesus do w/ that kind of dec?
“Jesus responded, ‘The Scriptures also say, ‘Do not test the
Lord your God.’” Matthew 4:7
So the Devil turned up the heat a bit, tried to sweeten the pot, which by the way is what happens to us alot when we’re put in situations of compromising dec. making
The Devil says, Jesus bow down and worship me and I’ll give you everything (which is kinda silly when you think about it, what can you give Jesus, the creator of all things? but remember the drained state Jesus is in and.... once again... He is our perfect model knowing we will face these kind of tough decisions in life)
So what did Jesus say,
“’Get out of here, Satan,’ Jesus told him. ‘For the Scriptures
say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God; serve only him.’”
Matthew 4:10
Now there was a common phrase used in each circumstance, did you catch that? what was it
‘For the Scriptures say,
so what is the 1st question we should ask facing any dec?
The First Question to Ask with Any and All Decisions and/or Choices in Life
What DOES THE BIBLE have to say?
Jesus went 3 for 3 - it’s the 1st ever recorded threepeat
‘For the Scriptures say,(3)
What was goin on? How did Jesus make the dec. He asked Himself a very simple ? what does the bible say?
If it’s in this book, then I got a green light and i’ll go for it, if it’s not then it’s a red light I’m not gonna go there.
In all the dec. we make, the big and the little where’s the 1st place to start? what does the bible have to say about this.
You know I have talked to a # people over the yrs. and heard their tough stories - so many of them start w/ “If only...”
If only... I had said No to that relationship ...hadn’t said that to my spouse or son or daughter ... I hadn’t put my money in that ... hadn’t been so greedy, so stubborn ... so selfish - If only (3)
Now here’s an amazing thing about God - He can work thru your “If only’s” and He can use your past as leverage to help you in the future - to make wise great dec. that’ll give you a wonderful future - Jer. 29:11
So the 1st place to start is asking and answering what does the bible have to say? This is what jesus modeled.
God wrote a book. It’s a love letter to all of us and... He put His counsel down on these pages for a # of reasons - let me share just a couple w/ you -
God’s heart in giving us His Word:
• So we can have the BEST LIFE POSSIBLE
So we can discover God has an awesome plan for our lives.
We would be amazed at how great our dec. can be, both big & little - by just spending time in this book.
• Because God wants to help us HELP OURSELVES & OTHERS
He wants us to make great dec. not only for our own benefit but to also help and influence others... influence others
b/c for us to think ‘my dec really don’t affect other people, they really don’t, you just have to do what’s right by you’ - you are sadly mistaken with that thought process - b/c our dec. do affect others - we are connected. Especially those close to you, family, children, sister, brother, nephew, niece, friends, co-workers are looking at your life and dec.
• Because God wants us to make the MOST OF OUR TIME
Think about this, time is a gift from God that we can’t go back and get some more of & the older I get the more I wonder where did all the time go? As I watch my girls grow up - all the more reason to make wise dec. Let me ask... hands
How many of you have wasted a certain amount of time in your life, whole periods, weeks, months, possibly yrs. of your life b/c of dumb dec. & choices?
So if I will look to God’s Word to make dec. I’ll see He has my best interest at heart, for the best life possible, to not only kelp me, but others - to make good use of my time for what’s really important.
But you know not everybody takes that approach, not only in dec. making but life in gen. - they don’t have a certain set of standards, just kinda fall into relativism - “if it works for me it works, it may not work for you, but hey, that’s OK - no need for any absolutes b/c my standards may be diff. than yours”
(Prof. at Univ. hands test w/ series of ?’s and answers - just circle the answer you feel is right, there’s no right or wrongs just what you want - you’d be thinking what’s he smokin? - what kind of test is this? a standardless, baseless test it’s useless)
So when we don’t use God’s Word or Him as our absolute then everything becomes relative, everything sorta slides on scale and if I make dec. that way I get messed up pretty quickly
and the reason why so many make dumb, what was I thinking dec. is b/c we look to ourselves instead of God - like
what are some of the things we have said when we go w/ ourselves, things we’ve said a time or 2
The Basis of “What was I thinking?” Dumb Decisions
• “Go with YOUR HEART”
Yeah you’ll bat a thousand doing that wont ya - right 100%?
• “Let your CONSCIENCE be your GUIDE”
but what peeks your consc. may not peek mine so it’s the sliding scale - your consc is important in dec. making when it’s saturated in the Truth - it’s gotta be tied into that
• “If it FEELS RIGHT”
Hey, I didn’t feel like getting out of bed this morning
or some1 may say I don’t feel like loving you anymore - our feelings are fickle (Cathleen story) we cannot trust our feelings
they’re to up and down - sometimes I don’t feel like going to work... school.... reading this book... or praying
• “What you do in the PRIVACY of your OWN HOME is your own business.”
Sure I can agree w/ that to a certain extent but we need to know this - private dec. always go public - so often what’s made in private has personal ramifications - b/c people carry out their lives and live in public - so whatever dec. made in private, remember, affect and influence those around us, sometimes
directly, sometimes indirectly. - base them on the truth.
So the 1st question everybody needs to ask themselves before making a dec. is.... What does the Bible say?
How much better would life be? We wouldn’t be wallowing in self-pity or the pools of regret if we just asked... what
1 problem with this is not everything is so black and white is it?
So what do you do w/ the other 15-20% - what I’ve found and have done myself is ask the ? - how close can I get to this and still not sin? b/c if I haven’t crossed over the line then it’s what?
OK? Is it? How far can i go w/out breaking the law? How close to immorality can i get w/out being immoral? How much can i stretch, how much can i bend w/out actually breaking any?
Is it legal... moral... permissible - and when we go down that line, oh.. that line is often oh so fuzzy - how close can i get w/out disaster - we need a standard, if it’s not illegal, then it must be...
OK - how far is too far? So in these gray areas are there other ?’s we need to ask? I think there are, but you’ll have to come back next week.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Living Above Marital Conflict
Glorifying God in Marital Conflict
In order to resolve conflict biblically, commit first to dealing with conflict in a way that brings glory to God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God... let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:9,16
Glorifying God in Marital Conflict
A. The glory of God in marriage
“...whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Cor. 10:31
1. What is God’s glory? The _display__ or_manifestation_ of the perfection and excellency of _God’s character and
attributes_.
ask: What are some character traits and attributes of God?
(kind, merciful, forgiving, accepting, loving)
2. How does God intend for marriage to display His Glory_?
God intends the husband and wife relationship to glorify Him through the lifelong, day-by-day display of sacrificial servant-like
love of Christ for the Church.
Dennis Rainey
3. How can I please and honor God in the midst of _conflict_ in my marriage?
a) The first step is to _understand why God created marriage__.
Marriage exists to magnify the truth and worth and beauty and greatness of God. - John Piper
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Gen. 1:27
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Gen. 2:24
(this is huge to understand the ideal of oneness - in marriage we are no longer on our own - we are one.
How do the relationships that we are involved in grow?
In Sacrifice.
We turn away from our own selfish wants and desires and we sacrifice what we may want to do, or where to go, or where not to go – WHY?
It is purely done out of love. - in sac. we grow together as 1)
The second step is to _understand how humanity’s fall into sin radically altered God’s intent for marriage.
Instead of oneness, couples experience:
Shame, guilt, and fear
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." Gen. 3:7-10
Blame
The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." Gen. 3:12-13
(Adam didn’t stand a chance - nude woman offering food)
A battle for control
To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." Gen. 3:16
(when we lose sight of the fact that we are 1 - we begin to exper. these effects: shame, guilt, fear, the blame game game, and this batlle for control)
4. The _fall of man__ has defaced the image of God
(_His glory_) in marriage. (we must remember we are 1)
The glory of God and marital conflict
1. Every spouse sins__in his marriage and falls far short of the _glory_ God intends for marriage to display
(Romans 3:23). “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
2. Through Jesus Christ_ and His victory on the cross__, God has given the resources_and _ability_ to live at peace with Him and each other.
(here today and you do not have a real rel. w/ J/C nows the time -maybe you haven’t fully accessed all God has to offer in Christ - maybe you’ve been trying to work this conflict on your own b/c you are a strong indiv. of strong character, but things are just not going the way you want - it’s not all rosy w/picket fences - God has the answer today)
God is saying, “I want in on your mess, let Me in on the mess”
a) Marital conflict provides _opportunity_ to glorify God by displaying_ His character and _ attributes__.
(God is telling us that stumbling blocks are actually stepping st)
b) Couples reflect__God’s glory__by being kind and tender-hearted _toward_one another, _forgiving_each other as God in Christ has forgiven them (Ephesians 4:32.)
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
We are mirrors
3. When marital conflict arises, a _peacemaker_in marriage will view the _conflict_ not as an accident, but as an _assignment__ to glorify God.
Summary:
Glorifying God in Marital Conflict
God created marriage to magnify His truth, worth, beauty, and greatness, and to reflect the glory of His character (including the attributes of love and forgiveness).
You can choose to respond to marital conflict in a way that will either honor or dishonor God. (Life is full of choices)
Glorifying God in marital conflict involves joyfully embracing the conflict as an assignment from God (James 1:2).
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,” (are we going to face conflict in marriage? - how will you respond?)
Action Point Suggestions:
Reflect on the impact of the fall of man on marriage relationships. Discuss with your spouse how these same factors have been a part of your marriage.
When conflict occurs, I will consciously ask myself, “How can I please and honor God in the midst of this conflict in my marriage?”
Memorize Ephesians 4:32, so that in the midst of conflict, you can remember to respond in a Christ-like manner.
Exposing the Idols in Our Hearts and Marriages
Application Project #1
INDIVIDUAL SECTION (25 minutes)
Setting:Stay together as a couple, but complete this section quickly without any interaction.
Objective:To identify any idols that may be the source of conflict in your marriage.
Read James 4:1-2, Exodus 20:4-5, and Psalm 115:4-8.
James 4:1-2 teaches that the source of conflict is my pleasures and desires. And we have learned that even good desires can become bad demands and that it is a short step from bad demands to idols. We also learned that these desires originate in our hearts and produce all sorts of marital conflicts.
Although we may not realize it, every time we choose anger, isolation, bitterness, unforgiveness, or any other response to marital conflict other than love and forgiveness from our hearts, we are choosing to worship an idol that never fulfills and always traps us in marital conflict (see Psalm 115:4-8). As the Bible says, all who worship idols shall become like them: deaf, mute, and dumb, without any power to fulfill or to deliver from the traps that conflict brings.
Think about the Scriptures you just read in light of one of your typical marital conflicts. Are there any desires that become demands that tend to rule your heart in the midst of your marital conflict?
After praying, ask yourself, “How can I glorify God by changing the way I respond to my spouse when conflict arises? What controlling desires (idols) must I deal with? Write down any insights you have.
Confess to God and claim His promise of forgiveness in Jesus Christ for any controlling desires (idols) He shows you (I John 1:9). Commit to change with the help of God’s Spirit and His Word. Humbly share with your spouse and agree to hold one another accountable.
Your marriage “exists to magnify the truth and worth and beauty and greatness of God”. Write down some steps you need to take in order for your marriage to serve this “magnifying” purpose (read Ephesians 5:22-33).
INTERACTION SECTION (35 minutes)
Setting: Stay together as a couple and complete this section with interaction.
Objective: To discuss the feelings, attitudes, and thoughts that each of you has on this subject.
Share with your spouse what you learned about any controlling desires that have caused conflict in your marriage.
Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such (a word) as is good for edification according to the need (of the moment) so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:29-32
After reading these verses, spend time discussing ways to improve your communication in order to glorify God in your marriage by handling conflict as He prescribes.
Pray and then write down at least one action point you agree to take as a couple.
In order to resolve conflict biblically, commit first to dealing with conflict in a way that brings glory to God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God... let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:9,16
Glorifying God in Marital Conflict
A. The glory of God in marriage
“...whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” 1 Cor. 10:31
1. What is God’s glory? The _display__ or_manifestation_ of the perfection and excellency of _God’s character and
attributes_.
ask: What are some character traits and attributes of God?
(kind, merciful, forgiving, accepting, loving)
2. How does God intend for marriage to display His Glory_?
God intends the husband and wife relationship to glorify Him through the lifelong, day-by-day display of sacrificial servant-like
love of Christ for the Church.
Dennis Rainey
3. How can I please and honor God in the midst of _conflict_ in my marriage?
a) The first step is to _understand why God created marriage__.
Marriage exists to magnify the truth and worth and beauty and greatness of God. - John Piper
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Gen. 1:27
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh. Gen. 2:24
(this is huge to understand the ideal of oneness - in marriage we are no longer on our own - we are one.
How do the relationships that we are involved in grow?
In Sacrifice.
We turn away from our own selfish wants and desires and we sacrifice what we may want to do, or where to go, or where not to go – WHY?
It is purely done out of love. - in sac. we grow together as 1)
The second step is to _understand how humanity’s fall into sin radically altered God’s intent for marriage.
Instead of oneness, couples experience:
Shame, guilt, and fear
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"
He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." Gen. 3:7-10
Blame
The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." Gen. 3:12-13
(Adam didn’t stand a chance - nude woman offering food)
A battle for control
To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you." Gen. 3:16
(when we lose sight of the fact that we are 1 - we begin to exper. these effects: shame, guilt, fear, the blame game game, and this batlle for control)
4. The _fall of man__ has defaced the image of God
(_His glory_) in marriage. (we must remember we are 1)
The glory of God and marital conflict
1. Every spouse sins__in his marriage and falls far short of the _glory_ God intends for marriage to display
(Romans 3:23). “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
2. Through Jesus Christ_ and His victory on the cross__, God has given the resources_and _ability_ to live at peace with Him and each other.
(here today and you do not have a real rel. w/ J/C nows the time -maybe you haven’t fully accessed all God has to offer in Christ - maybe you’ve been trying to work this conflict on your own b/c you are a strong indiv. of strong character, but things are just not going the way you want - it’s not all rosy w/picket fences - God has the answer today)
God is saying, “I want in on your mess, let Me in on the mess”
a) Marital conflict provides _opportunity_ to glorify God by displaying_ His character and _ attributes__.
(God is telling us that stumbling blocks are actually stepping st)
b) Couples reflect__God’s glory__by being kind and tender-hearted _toward_one another, _forgiving_each other as God in Christ has forgiven them (Ephesians 4:32.)
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
We are mirrors
3. When marital conflict arises, a _peacemaker_in marriage will view the _conflict_ not as an accident, but as an _assignment__ to glorify God.
Summary:
Glorifying God in Marital Conflict
God created marriage to magnify His truth, worth, beauty, and greatness, and to reflect the glory of His character (including the attributes of love and forgiveness).
You can choose to respond to marital conflict in a way that will either honor or dishonor God. (Life is full of choices)
Glorifying God in marital conflict involves joyfully embracing the conflict as an assignment from God (James 1:2).
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,” (are we going to face conflict in marriage? - how will you respond?)
Action Point Suggestions:
Reflect on the impact of the fall of man on marriage relationships. Discuss with your spouse how these same factors have been a part of your marriage.
When conflict occurs, I will consciously ask myself, “How can I please and honor God in the midst of this conflict in my marriage?”
Memorize Ephesians 4:32, so that in the midst of conflict, you can remember to respond in a Christ-like manner.
Exposing the Idols in Our Hearts and Marriages
Application Project #1
INDIVIDUAL SECTION (25 minutes)
Setting:Stay together as a couple, but complete this section quickly without any interaction.
Objective:To identify any idols that may be the source of conflict in your marriage.
Read James 4:1-2, Exodus 20:4-5, and Psalm 115:4-8.
James 4:1-2 teaches that the source of conflict is my pleasures and desires. And we have learned that even good desires can become bad demands and that it is a short step from bad demands to idols. We also learned that these desires originate in our hearts and produce all sorts of marital conflicts.
Although we may not realize it, every time we choose anger, isolation, bitterness, unforgiveness, or any other response to marital conflict other than love and forgiveness from our hearts, we are choosing to worship an idol that never fulfills and always traps us in marital conflict (see Psalm 115:4-8). As the Bible says, all who worship idols shall become like them: deaf, mute, and dumb, without any power to fulfill or to deliver from the traps that conflict brings.
Think about the Scriptures you just read in light of one of your typical marital conflicts. Are there any desires that become demands that tend to rule your heart in the midst of your marital conflict?
After praying, ask yourself, “How can I glorify God by changing the way I respond to my spouse when conflict arises? What controlling desires (idols) must I deal with? Write down any insights you have.
Confess to God and claim His promise of forgiveness in Jesus Christ for any controlling desires (idols) He shows you (I John 1:9). Commit to change with the help of God’s Spirit and His Word. Humbly share with your spouse and agree to hold one another accountable.
Your marriage “exists to magnify the truth and worth and beauty and greatness of God”. Write down some steps you need to take in order for your marriage to serve this “magnifying” purpose (read Ephesians 5:22-33).
INTERACTION SECTION (35 minutes)
Setting: Stay together as a couple and complete this section with interaction.
Objective: To discuss the feelings, attitudes, and thoughts that each of you has on this subject.
Share with your spouse what you learned about any controlling desires that have caused conflict in your marriage.
Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such (a word) as is good for edification according to the need (of the moment) so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
Ephesians 4:29-32
After reading these verses, spend time discussing ways to improve your communication in order to glorify God in your marriage by handling conflict as He prescribes.
Pray and then write down at least one action point you agree to take as a couple.
Sunday, February 04, 2007
GETTING FOCUS* - "The FOCUS* Game Plan"
“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, or they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.” 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10
How amazing would it be for us to be described in this way? to be described as a model church for the entire region? a church whose faith in God is known everywhere? A community who has helped lead multitudes to turn from idols to the true and living God. How great would that be?
Don’t you wish Paul would have expanded on the methodologies of the Thessalonian church? Wouldn’t it have been great if 2 Thes. were a manual that told us how to reproduce that particular model? But
Paul doesn’t tell us anything about their structure, their methods, their systems, or their programs, but he does tell us a great deal about the essence of this church.
“We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father, your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
Here Paul gives us an inside look into the hearts of the Thes. believers. They were a church that was ignited and fueled by faith, love, and hope.
I believe we must become convinced that the key to an awakening lies w/in the power of these 3 spiritual essences.
So much so we @ FOCUS* have built our identity around just that:
A Community of Faith, Love, and Hope
For us to create that atmosphere w/in FOCUS* we must
construct them in each of our lives - to be people who live by FAITH, people who known by LOVE, & people who are a voice of HOPE!
How do we do that?
I.TO LIVE BY FAITH
What does it really mean to live by faith?
________ OBEDIENCE ________________
Faith begins w/ God speaking and materializes when we respond. We have primarily related to “faith” as a noun, rather than a verb. The church tends to live by “the faith” more than it lives by faith. The goal for us is to become a doctrinally sound people w/ a growing knowledge of the Bible, rather than to live in this space of “limbo” waiting for or on God.
Sure there is a time and a place to be still b4 the Lord as He speaks guidance into our lives but,
the starting point of living by faith is recognizing that God has revealed so much of His will that we have plenty to live by w/out ever hearing another word. Some things in life, we simply do not need to pray about right?
When God has spoken and commanded His people, praying sometimes becomes a way of resisting or putting off God’s will, rather than a way of responding to it.
A church begins to live by faith when it's people move the things God has clearly said into the non-optional category.
What are some of the non-optional things
God has called us to do? (table talk)
______PRAY, READ, SERVE, WORSHIP,
FELLOWSHIP, EVANGELIZE, ETC..._____
we don’t need to pray about whether we should pray... serve...evangelize.. list goes on and on...
The church, us, you and I are called to be a living expression of faith. When a church lives by faith (walking in obedience to what God has already said), then it’s people prove that God can be trusted - others will see it in your life.
We are to be people who live by FAITH, it’s a verb!
II. To be known by LOVE
"Love others as much as you love yourself." Matthew 22:39
Love is a romantic word. More songs have been written about
love than any other subject or word in the world. Would there
even be a movie industry w/out love? There is an entire genre
called romance novels because people so desperately long for love.
Yet as much as we talk about it & claim to build our lives around it, love is actually a rare commodity. Most of what we call love falls into other categories: from like to lust, “I love your shoes” or
“I love “The Simpsons” - from passion to possession. “I love the Houston Astros” or “I'd love to own that car” - We have been so inundated w/ love imitations that we've become blind to what love is really about.
In the end How does love manifest itself?
In Sacrifice
Jesus told us the way the world would know we are His followers is if we love one another.
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
John 13:34-35
To be known by LOVE.
We see love in sacrifice.
How do the relationships that we are involved in grow?
In Sacrifice.
We turn away from our own selfish wants and desires and we sacrifice what we may want to do, or where to go, or where not to go – WHY?
It is purely done out of love.
Notes from an anonymous journal:
Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a
hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering
from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save her." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?" Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save his sister.
Now that’s Sacrifice. That’s being known by LOVE.
In John 15:13, Jesus gives us the practical expression of love. He says, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Ofcourse, Jesus was speaking of his own death, explaining that his sacrifice would be the ultimate expression for the love of all humanity.
The church erupted out of an act of love. It shouldn't surprise us
that the church only moves toward God when it is fueled by love.
Listen... in a world of imitations, real love draws a crowd. It stands out. It is undeniable. It is defining.
That being the case, What is the practical expression of love? Servanthood
It is impossible to come close to God and not have love overwhelm you. And when we realize that the practical expression of love is servanthood, love begins to change everything about your relationships. In fact,
this is the one amazing things about God: He loves to serve.
In John 13 when Jesus tied a towel around his waist and began washing his disciples feet, this was not an extraordinary act for God but right in line with who He is. Jesus Christ was a servant. He was doing nothing more than expressing the serving heart of God.
“... the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve...” Matt. 20:28
People matter to God, so... People matter to us.
I have made the mistake of passing judgment on others.
Have you?
We tend to make these armchair assessments of who God has use for and who He doesn't.
Jesus made it clear of the value each person has a # of times,
but one that stands out for me was a conversation He had on the cross.
Luke 23:32-43
32 There were also two criminals led out with Jesus to be put to death. 33 When they came to a place called the Skull, the soldiers crucified Jesus and the criminals -- one on his right and the other on his left.....
38 At the top of the cross these words were written: this is the king of the jews. 39 One of the criminals on a cross began to shout insults at Jesus: "Aren't you the Christ? Then save yourself and us." 40 But the other criminal stopped him and said, "You should fear God! You are getting the same punishment he is. 41 We are punished justly, getting what we
deserve for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong." 42 Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." 43 Jesus said to him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
Think about this – while they were hanging on crosses one of them launched into a verbal tirade.
The other thief opened his eyes to what was really happening –
he realized in a short amount of time he was about to face eternity, and he was painfully aware of the kind of life he had lived. So he yells to the other criminal to SHUT UP! Can't you see what's goin on here –
we deserve to die but this man doesn't.
He looked to Christ and said
"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." in essence he was saying, I know this sounds like a silly question, but could somebody like me, who has committed the sins I've committed, who has not exactly been a great guy, I have treated people like garbage at times, could somebody like me, still
matter to anybody?
What did Jesus say? Without hesitation, He assured this man,
“You matter far more than you can even imagine. And because of your faith and you tender spirit, you'll meet up with me a little later today in paradise, where we'll be together for eternity.
Sometimes it tough to comprehend that kind of compassion,
that kind of love. But that's exactly what God wants us to be like –
He said it is that kind of love that will show people you are my followers.
It is that kind of love that marks you as a follower of Christ.
Whenever we are known by love, God's reputation is intact.
When people see our love and sacrifice for others it shows that this is real.
It shows that "Christianity" is legit. What do people think and say when we dont show God's love towards others - when were only concerned about ourselves, when we expect everyone to just fall right in line with us -
They think were hypocritical and phoney's.
When love erupts in the hearts of God's people,
they become the servants of a lost and broken world.
And the world will see
May we be known by LOVE
III. To be a voice of HOPE
Every believer in Christ knows the meaning of Hope. Every Christ follower knows what life was like before their encounter w/ Jesus. We can look at our lives of the past and look at our lives now in Christ and see Amazing Grace, Amazing Love - and our lives now are filled w/ hope, b/c of the gospel, the message and life of Jesus Christ.
We understand that a Christless world is a hopeless world. At the same time we seem to forget that a Christ-filled world is a hope-filled world.
Somehow we’ve lost the mandate given to us by God to stand in a desperate world and offer hope.
What is the Gospel? Good News
We know that, we teach it, but we often do not communicate it as good news. When we speak the gospel of Jesus Christ, we seem to somehow get logjammed around the message of sin, damnation, and hell - no wonder so many people feel that the church has nothing but bad news to tell.
(video - "real christian of genius")
The gospel, as given to us by Jesus, is supposed to be good news. Jesus himself said, I have not come to condemn the world, but to give the world life.” John 3:17; 10:10
(world beats us up)
What would happen if people heard the message of Christ as a message of hope and not a message of judgement?
The message of Christ and the need for repentance are inseparable, but even in that, the Bible is clear in how we are to relate to people.
The Apostle Paul reminds us that it is the loving kindness of God that brings us to repentance - we are to speak the truth in LOVE - it is a message HOPE! The best indication that we are communicating the gospel effectively is that broken,
sinful, and despairing people receive it as a word of good news.
I think it’s important to remember that the people Jesus continually offended were the religious.
Sinners seem to warm up to Him quite easily.(why)
The gospel, in it’s essence, is a message of hope to a world full of despair.
A great story in the life of Jesus is in John 8, where the
religious leaders confronted Him, wanting to condemn an adulterous woman. Look at how Jesus when others tried to force Him into meanness, would not allow it. If there was ever a perfect opportunity to bring down the wrath of God on a sinful woman, it was right then. And yet from that encounter w/ this woman caught in adultery, thrown down before Him, we have some of jesus’ famous words - watch this
“Where are they?” “Who condemns you?” She stood there almost dumbfounded, astonished, maybe almost paralyzed over what just happened, it begins to settle in on her,
“no one”
Jesus revealed the heart of God when He told her He didn’t condemn her. He simply said, “Go and sin no more”
This is an important guide for each of us.
We are God’s voice of HOPE
stats - 200 mill. m,w,c lost in Amer. today
closer to home - 7 out of 10 you know lost
Those who have known nothing but condemnation and shame will find a new beginning in Jesus Christ.
God's Message:
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD,
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give
you hope and a future. Jer. 29:11
The natural outcome of being connected to God is being optimistic about the future. When this permeates a biblical community, optimism and enthusiasm prevail in the church. The church of Jesus Christ is always looking forward. It
always believes in the promise of tomorrow and is never overwhelmed by the difficulty or even failure of the present.
This should be one of the markers of a New Testament community - We are to be a voice of hope b/c we are a people of hope.
A follower of Jesus Christ has no excuse for pessimism.
God has called us to be a Voice of HOPE
Who do you know that needs to hear that?
who needs a shot of hope injected into their lives?
Faith, Love, and Hope are not just foundations or pillars; they are wellsprings - It is our identity our DNA
The deeper the church digs these wells, the more rich and
resilient they become.
For us to create that atmosphere w/in FOCUS* we must
construct them in each of our lives - to be people who live by FAITH, people who known by LOVE, &
people who are a voice of HOPE!
How amazing would it be for us to be described in this way? to be described as a model church for the entire region? a church whose faith in God is known everywhere? A community who has helped lead multitudes to turn from idols to the true and living God. How great would that be?
Don’t you wish Paul would have expanded on the methodologies of the Thessalonian church? Wouldn’t it have been great if 2 Thes. were a manual that told us how to reproduce that particular model? But
Paul doesn’t tell us anything about their structure, their methods, their systems, or their programs, but he does tell us a great deal about the essence of this church.
“We always thank God for all of you, mentioning you in our prayers. We continually remember before our God and Father, your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.”
1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
Here Paul gives us an inside look into the hearts of the Thes. believers. They were a church that was ignited and fueled by faith, love, and hope.
I believe we must become convinced that the key to an awakening lies w/in the power of these 3 spiritual essences.
So much so we @ FOCUS* have built our identity around just that:
A Community of Faith, Love, and Hope
For us to create that atmosphere w/in FOCUS* we must
construct them in each of our lives - to be people who live by FAITH, people who known by LOVE, & people who are a voice of HOPE!
How do we do that?
I.TO LIVE BY FAITH
What does it really mean to live by faith?
________ OBEDIENCE ________________
Faith begins w/ God speaking and materializes when we respond. We have primarily related to “faith” as a noun, rather than a verb. The church tends to live by “the faith” more than it lives by faith. The goal for us is to become a doctrinally sound people w/ a growing knowledge of the Bible, rather than to live in this space of “limbo” waiting for or on God.
Sure there is a time and a place to be still b4 the Lord as He speaks guidance into our lives but,
the starting point of living by faith is recognizing that God has revealed so much of His will that we have plenty to live by w/out ever hearing another word. Some things in life, we simply do not need to pray about right?
When God has spoken and commanded His people, praying sometimes becomes a way of resisting or putting off God’s will, rather than a way of responding to it.
A church begins to live by faith when it's people move the things God has clearly said into the non-optional category.
What are some of the non-optional things
God has called us to do? (table talk)
______PRAY, READ, SERVE, WORSHIP,
FELLOWSHIP, EVANGELIZE, ETC..._____
we don’t need to pray about whether we should pray... serve...evangelize.. list goes on and on...
The church, us, you and I are called to be a living expression of faith. When a church lives by faith (walking in obedience to what God has already said), then it’s people prove that God can be trusted - others will see it in your life.
We are to be people who live by FAITH, it’s a verb!
II. To be known by LOVE
"Love others as much as you love yourself." Matthew 22:39
Love is a romantic word. More songs have been written about
love than any other subject or word in the world. Would there
even be a movie industry w/out love? There is an entire genre
called romance novels because people so desperately long for love.
Yet as much as we talk about it & claim to build our lives around it, love is actually a rare commodity. Most of what we call love falls into other categories: from like to lust, “I love your shoes” or
“I love “The Simpsons” - from passion to possession. “I love the Houston Astros” or “I'd love to own that car” - We have been so inundated w/ love imitations that we've become blind to what love is really about.
In the end How does love manifest itself?
In Sacrifice
Jesus told us the way the world would know we are His followers is if we love one another.
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
John 13:34-35
To be known by LOVE.
We see love in sacrifice.
How do the relationships that we are involved in grow?
In Sacrifice.
We turn away from our own selfish wants and desires and we sacrifice what we may want to do, or where to go, or where not to go – WHY?
It is purely done out of love.
Notes from an anonymous journal:
Many years ago, when I worked as a volunteer at a
hospital, I got to know a little girl named Liz who was suffering
from a rare and serious disease. Her only chance of recovery appeared to be a blood transfusion from her 5-year old brother, who had miraculously survived the same disease and had developed antibodies needed to combat the illness. The doctor explained the situation to her little brother, and asked the little boy if he would be willing to give his blood to his sister. I saw him hesitate for only a moment before taking a deep breath and saying, "Yes, I'll do it if it will save her." As the transfusion progressed, he lay in bed next to his sister and smiled, as we all did, seeing the color returning to her cheek. Then his face grew pale and his smile faded. He looked up at the doctor and asked with a trembling voice, "Will I start to die right away?" Being young, the little boy had misunderstood the doctor; he thought he was going to have to give his sister all of his blood in order to save his sister.
Now that’s Sacrifice. That’s being known by LOVE.
In John 15:13, Jesus gives us the practical expression of love. He says, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Ofcourse, Jesus was speaking of his own death, explaining that his sacrifice would be the ultimate expression for the love of all humanity.
The church erupted out of an act of love. It shouldn't surprise us
that the church only moves toward God when it is fueled by love.
Listen... in a world of imitations, real love draws a crowd. It stands out. It is undeniable. It is defining.
That being the case, What is the practical expression of love? Servanthood
It is impossible to come close to God and not have love overwhelm you. And when we realize that the practical expression of love is servanthood, love begins to change everything about your relationships. In fact,
this is the one amazing things about God: He loves to serve.
In John 13 when Jesus tied a towel around his waist and began washing his disciples feet, this was not an extraordinary act for God but right in line with who He is. Jesus Christ was a servant. He was doing nothing more than expressing the serving heart of God.
“... the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve...” Matt. 20:28
People matter to God, so... People matter to us.
I have made the mistake of passing judgment on others.
Have you?
We tend to make these armchair assessments of who God has use for and who He doesn't.
Jesus made it clear of the value each person has a # of times,
but one that stands out for me was a conversation He had on the cross.
Luke 23:32-43
32 There were also two criminals led out with Jesus to be put to death. 33 When they came to a place called the Skull, the soldiers crucified Jesus and the criminals -- one on his right and the other on his left.....
38 At the top of the cross these words were written: this is the king of the jews. 39 One of the criminals on a cross began to shout insults at Jesus: "Aren't you the Christ? Then save yourself and us." 40 But the other criminal stopped him and said, "You should fear God! You are getting the same punishment he is. 41 We are punished justly, getting what we
deserve for what we did. But this man has done nothing wrong." 42 Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." 43 Jesus said to him, "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise."
Think about this – while they were hanging on crosses one of them launched into a verbal tirade.
The other thief opened his eyes to what was really happening –
he realized in a short amount of time he was about to face eternity, and he was painfully aware of the kind of life he had lived. So he yells to the other criminal to SHUT UP! Can't you see what's goin on here –
we deserve to die but this man doesn't.
He looked to Christ and said
"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." in essence he was saying, I know this sounds like a silly question, but could somebody like me, who has committed the sins I've committed, who has not exactly been a great guy, I have treated people like garbage at times, could somebody like me, still
matter to anybody?
What did Jesus say? Without hesitation, He assured this man,
“You matter far more than you can even imagine. And because of your faith and you tender spirit, you'll meet up with me a little later today in paradise, where we'll be together for eternity.
Sometimes it tough to comprehend that kind of compassion,
that kind of love. But that's exactly what God wants us to be like –
He said it is that kind of love that will show people you are my followers.
It is that kind of love that marks you as a follower of Christ.
Whenever we are known by love, God's reputation is intact.
When people see our love and sacrifice for others it shows that this is real.
It shows that "Christianity" is legit. What do people think and say when we dont show God's love towards others - when were only concerned about ourselves, when we expect everyone to just fall right in line with us -
They think were hypocritical and phoney's.
When love erupts in the hearts of God's people,
they become the servants of a lost and broken world.
And the world will see
May we be known by LOVE
III. To be a voice of HOPE
Every believer in Christ knows the meaning of Hope. Every Christ follower knows what life was like before their encounter w/ Jesus. We can look at our lives of the past and look at our lives now in Christ and see Amazing Grace, Amazing Love - and our lives now are filled w/ hope, b/c of the gospel, the message and life of Jesus Christ.
We understand that a Christless world is a hopeless world. At the same time we seem to forget that a Christ-filled world is a hope-filled world.
Somehow we’ve lost the mandate given to us by God to stand in a desperate world and offer hope.
What is the Gospel? Good News
We know that, we teach it, but we often do not communicate it as good news. When we speak the gospel of Jesus Christ, we seem to somehow get logjammed around the message of sin, damnation, and hell - no wonder so many people feel that the church has nothing but bad news to tell.
(video - "real christian of genius")
The gospel, as given to us by Jesus, is supposed to be good news. Jesus himself said, I have not come to condemn the world, but to give the world life.” John 3:17; 10:10
(world beats us up)
What would happen if people heard the message of Christ as a message of hope and not a message of judgement?
The message of Christ and the need for repentance are inseparable, but even in that, the Bible is clear in how we are to relate to people.
The Apostle Paul reminds us that it is the loving kindness of God that brings us to repentance - we are to speak the truth in LOVE - it is a message HOPE! The best indication that we are communicating the gospel effectively is that broken,
sinful, and despairing people receive it as a word of good news.
I think it’s important to remember that the people Jesus continually offended were the religious.
Sinners seem to warm up to Him quite easily.(why)
The gospel, in it’s essence, is a message of hope to a world full of despair.
A great story in the life of Jesus is in John 8, where the
religious leaders confronted Him, wanting to condemn an adulterous woman. Look at how Jesus when others tried to force Him into meanness, would not allow it. If there was ever a perfect opportunity to bring down the wrath of God on a sinful woman, it was right then. And yet from that encounter w/ this woman caught in adultery, thrown down before Him, we have some of jesus’ famous words - watch this
“Where are they?” “Who condemns you?” She stood there almost dumbfounded, astonished, maybe almost paralyzed over what just happened, it begins to settle in on her,
“no one”
Jesus revealed the heart of God when He told her He didn’t condemn her. He simply said, “Go and sin no more”
This is an important guide for each of us.
We are God’s voice of HOPE
stats - 200 mill. m,w,c lost in Amer. today
closer to home - 7 out of 10 you know lost
Those who have known nothing but condemnation and shame will find a new beginning in Jesus Christ.
God's Message:
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD,
"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give
you hope and a future. Jer. 29:11
The natural outcome of being connected to God is being optimistic about the future. When this permeates a biblical community, optimism and enthusiasm prevail in the church. The church of Jesus Christ is always looking forward. It
always believes in the promise of tomorrow and is never overwhelmed by the difficulty or even failure of the present.
This should be one of the markers of a New Testament community - We are to be a voice of hope b/c we are a people of hope.
A follower of Jesus Christ has no excuse for pessimism.
God has called us to be a Voice of HOPE
Who do you know that needs to hear that?
who needs a shot of hope injected into their lives?
Faith, Love, and Hope are not just foundations or pillars; they are wellsprings - It is our identity our DNA
The deeper the church digs these wells, the more rich and
resilient they become.
For us to create that atmosphere w/in FOCUS* we must
construct them in each of our lives - to be people who live by FAITH, people who known by LOVE, &
people who are a voice of HOPE!
Sunday, January 28, 2007
GETTING FOCUS* - "Be Relevant"
I. What does it mean to 'Be Relevant'?
3 Scenarios:
1. Flat tire, car pulls up & comes out w/ jumper cables - are jumper cables relevant? Are ju. ca. important? sure just not now
2. Previous week b4 your flat tire - your office offered an optional course on tire-changing tech.and roadside safety - the week b4 your car broke down how relevant would that class have been? How motivated would you have been to sign-up and stand out in the wet air & cold wind watching someone chan-tire
3. On the roadside w/ flat tire at night - car pulls up behind you & out jump 3 big, nasty guys speaking a foreign lang. - in that moment your concern changes doesn’t it? 30 sec. b4 your concern was, “Oh no you got a flat tire” & suddenly you got a new concern.
As we think about these different scenarios, ask yourself, what makes a relevant envior? What makes something relevant?
When we look at the world today, what we may believe is absolutely irrelevant was at some point & time very relevant.
(examples - it’s hard for us to imagine that at one time)
here’s the deal - Relevance is a moving target
Scripture isn’t, theology isn’t, but relevance is a moving target.
Our methods must change, but the message stays the same. (able to extract methodology from theology)
Being Relevant is adjusting to your surroundings to share God's message.
1 Corinthians 9:19-23
“Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessing.”
Elements of Relevance
1. Culture and stage of life determines what is appealing
what’s going on around you - what’s current - pop cul; marketplace cul; bus. cul. that’s what’s appealing to the vast maj.
Jesus always did this - He pointed out something familar, something current, “ A man had 2 sons”... “look at this fig tree”
what’s going on around you - SoL, it’s diff. for an adult and a child - don’t ask a 50yr. to sit on floor and dont give a 5y. coffee.
2. Relationships are crucial
My relationships create my opportunities
we have diff. levels of relationships; close, kinda close, friends...
It is in these relation. that we can share what God has done in our lives (testimony)- so we need to cultivate these relation. - talked about 2 weeks ago - My relationships create my opportunities here we talk about Invest and Invite
3. Presentation determines interest
How we make the presentation matters. (eating out - 3 meats, beef, chix, fish - the diff. isn’t, “oh I’m tired of those 3 meats what else do you have” no when you look down the menu you look at how they’re presented. The meat is the meat, chix is chix is chix,
but there’s dozens of ways to do chix. & it’s the presentation that creates the interest, it’s not the chix.
It is not enough to present Truth
It is the pres. of the Word that makes it interesting - that’s not what makes it relevant but makes it interesting - hey David kills Goliath everytime you read it right? I dont even wanna hear another version of the story, “hey could you change it up a bit, we heard that you know?”
There’s people who can talk about David killing Gol. and you’re like uh-huh, but then there’s people who can talk about David killing Gol. and you feel the sweat dripping down Gol. whoa what’s the diff. it’s not the story - it’s the pres.
So when you see Uncle Bill every Holiday season and as you approach him, are his thoughts, “Oh no, here he comes or here she comes again, same o, same o story about Jesus”
and we’re boring them with the greatest story ever told
Truth is always relevant, but,Truth is not always perceived as relevant
We must become experts at helping people see relevant things as relevant things - this is a problem we have w/ our teens
Our task is to present Truth in such a way that people are forced to recognize and _feel_ the relevance.
This requires an engaging and creative presentation
Why is this so important that we are examining this in such detail? B/c in our relationships, (church) as we cultivate those and become comfortable w/ one another we tend to get very lax and in a rut w/ them that nothing new ever develops and we get to a point of, “we’ll they’ve heard that so... skip it”
chix is chix is chix, it’s the presentation that matters.
If our pres. isn’t engaging it isn’t interesting, if it’s not interesting then Truth is going to be perceived as irrelevant BUT Truth isn’t irrelevant, but the un-engaging pres. makes it feel irrelevant
4. Content determines relevance
Here at the church, Eric, myself, Cathleen, or others
We could be engaging and interesting and fun, humorous, telling great stories but if it’s not helpful then people walk away w/, “well I had a good time but I really didn’t get anything out of that”
Is it helpful?
Let me ask you, when you are in convo. w/ others, do they leave that convo. w/ you never thinking about it again. or...
Do you leave them w/ something, somewhere in the beg. or middle or end of the convo. do you leave them w/ something that they ponder on again? Something you said, maybe even in a nonchalant way, that they think about again.
I don’t know how many times Cathleen and I have left meetings, churches, seminars, and so forth, and we looked at each other and say, “I didn’t get anything out of that”
Has that ever happened to you?
We think, “what a waste of our time”
It is something we give a great deal of thought to here at FOCUS* - we never want people leaving thinking, “we had fun, it was interesting, we met some great people, but quite frankly I can’t remember why or what reason we were even there for to begin with - I didn’t come away with anything”
It must be helpful!
So... what must we present here and what is the content that we want to leave our friends, our family members, co-workers, in the conversations we have during the holidays or at the water cooler, what is the content? What is helpful?
God’s Word
The Truth, God’s Word is the content.
God’s Word is relevant for today. That is what we want to leave with others as much as we can.
So can you see how this all ties together?
What does it mean to be relevant?
“I have become all things to all men so that by all
possible means I might save some” 1 Corinthians 9:22
Being Relevant is Adjusting to your surroundings to share
God's message.
What makes my surroundings appealing? Culture
My relationships create my opportunities
My pres. must be engaging and interesting
and
It’s the content, God’s Word that determines the relevance
It may not be perceived that way so we must bring to the table something that is helpful, something worth remembering -
We can find that in God’s Word.
3 Scenarios:
1. Flat tire, car pulls up & comes out w/ jumper cables - are jumper cables relevant? Are ju. ca. important? sure just not now
2. Previous week b4 your flat tire - your office offered an optional course on tire-changing tech.and roadside safety - the week b4 your car broke down how relevant would that class have been? How motivated would you have been to sign-up and stand out in the wet air & cold wind watching someone chan-tire
3. On the roadside w/ flat tire at night - car pulls up behind you & out jump 3 big, nasty guys speaking a foreign lang. - in that moment your concern changes doesn’t it? 30 sec. b4 your concern was, “Oh no you got a flat tire” & suddenly you got a new concern.
As we think about these different scenarios, ask yourself, what makes a relevant envior? What makes something relevant?
When we look at the world today, what we may believe is absolutely irrelevant was at some point & time very relevant.
(examples - it’s hard for us to imagine that at one time)
here’s the deal - Relevance is a moving target
Scripture isn’t, theology isn’t, but relevance is a moving target.
Our methods must change, but the message stays the same. (able to extract methodology from theology)
Being Relevant is adjusting to your surroundings to share God's message.
1 Corinthians 9:19-23
“Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God's law but am under Christ's law), so as to win those not having the law. To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessing.”
Elements of Relevance
1. Culture and stage of life determines what is appealing
what’s going on around you - what’s current - pop cul; marketplace cul; bus. cul. that’s what’s appealing to the vast maj.
Jesus always did this - He pointed out something familar, something current, “ A man had 2 sons”... “look at this fig tree”
what’s going on around you - SoL, it’s diff. for an adult and a child - don’t ask a 50yr. to sit on floor and dont give a 5y. coffee.
2. Relationships are crucial
My relationships create my opportunities
we have diff. levels of relationships; close, kinda close, friends...
It is in these relation. that we can share what God has done in our lives (testimony)- so we need to cultivate these relation. - talked about 2 weeks ago - My relationships create my opportunities here we talk about Invest and Invite
3. Presentation determines interest
How we make the presentation matters. (eating out - 3 meats, beef, chix, fish - the diff. isn’t, “oh I’m tired of those 3 meats what else do you have” no when you look down the menu you look at how they’re presented. The meat is the meat, chix is chix is chix,
but there’s dozens of ways to do chix. & it’s the presentation that creates the interest, it’s not the chix.
It is not enough to present Truth
It is the pres. of the Word that makes it interesting - that’s not what makes it relevant but makes it interesting - hey David kills Goliath everytime you read it right? I dont even wanna hear another version of the story, “hey could you change it up a bit, we heard that you know?”
There’s people who can talk about David killing Gol. and you’re like uh-huh, but then there’s people who can talk about David killing Gol. and you feel the sweat dripping down Gol. whoa what’s the diff. it’s not the story - it’s the pres.
So when you see Uncle Bill every Holiday season and as you approach him, are his thoughts, “Oh no, here he comes or here she comes again, same o, same o story about Jesus”
and we’re boring them with the greatest story ever told
Truth is always relevant, but,Truth is not always perceived as relevant
We must become experts at helping people see relevant things as relevant things - this is a problem we have w/ our teens
Our task is to present Truth in such a way that people are forced to recognize and _feel_ the relevance.
This requires an engaging and creative presentation
Why is this so important that we are examining this in such detail? B/c in our relationships, (church) as we cultivate those and become comfortable w/ one another we tend to get very lax and in a rut w/ them that nothing new ever develops and we get to a point of, “we’ll they’ve heard that so... skip it”
chix is chix is chix, it’s the presentation that matters.
If our pres. isn’t engaging it isn’t interesting, if it’s not interesting then Truth is going to be perceived as irrelevant BUT Truth isn’t irrelevant, but the un-engaging pres. makes it feel irrelevant
4. Content determines relevance
Here at the church, Eric, myself, Cathleen, or others
We could be engaging and interesting and fun, humorous, telling great stories but if it’s not helpful then people walk away w/, “well I had a good time but I really didn’t get anything out of that”
Is it helpful?
Let me ask you, when you are in convo. w/ others, do they leave that convo. w/ you never thinking about it again. or...
Do you leave them w/ something, somewhere in the beg. or middle or end of the convo. do you leave them w/ something that they ponder on again? Something you said, maybe even in a nonchalant way, that they think about again.
I don’t know how many times Cathleen and I have left meetings, churches, seminars, and so forth, and we looked at each other and say, “I didn’t get anything out of that”
Has that ever happened to you?
We think, “what a waste of our time”
It is something we give a great deal of thought to here at FOCUS* - we never want people leaving thinking, “we had fun, it was interesting, we met some great people, but quite frankly I can’t remember why or what reason we were even there for to begin with - I didn’t come away with anything”
It must be helpful!
So... what must we present here and what is the content that we want to leave our friends, our family members, co-workers, in the conversations we have during the holidays or at the water cooler, what is the content? What is helpful?
God’s Word
The Truth, God’s Word is the content.
God’s Word is relevant for today. That is what we want to leave with others as much as we can.
So can you see how this all ties together?
What does it mean to be relevant?
“I have become all things to all men so that by all
possible means I might save some” 1 Corinthians 9:22
Being Relevant is Adjusting to your surroundings to share
God's message.
What makes my surroundings appealing? Culture
My relationships create my opportunities
My pres. must be engaging and interesting
and
It’s the content, God’s Word that determines the relevance
It may not be perceived that way so we must bring to the table something that is helpful, something worth remembering -
We can find that in God’s Word.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
GETTING FOCUS* - "Just like Jesus" part 2
“If we can see what God sees, we’ll do what God says”
Our Character is essentially the sum of our Habits.
The Habit of Solitude, Prayer, Intimate Community
The Habit of Getting in the Word
If we only used the Bible to study and apply it’s practical wisdom in our lives, dealing w/ people and overcoming challenges, it still would stand alone as the greatest book ever written. But the Bible is so much more than a how-to manual, it is an intimate love letter written to you from your Heavenly Father.
Through the words of Scripture, God invites us daily to experience new and exciting dimensions of His love.
Scripture is the holy Word from God, delivered by holy men, to teach holy truths, to make people holy.
We look at this book (the Bible) and think, “it’s sooo big” , but in reality if this is the primary document in which God communicates to His people, then it’s really small. So every paragraph, every line, every word is extremely important.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17
It is all good to know that the Bible is useful, reliable, & valuable.
It is another thing to make it your own in a practical way. It is only profitable if you read it. How can we make the Word of God more effective in our lives?
There are 5 practical ways we can cultivate the habit of Getting in the Word.
Hear the Word
The simplest way to receive the Word is to hear it from someone else. Even a young child or someone who cannot read can hear the Bible.
“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” Mark 4:23
“Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17
The parable of the sower, that Jesus taught in Matt. 13:3-23
lists 4 kinds of hearers of the Word.
The apathetic hearer hears the word but is not prepared to
receive and understand it (v19)
The superficial hearer receives the word temporarily but does not let it take root in the heart (v20-21)
The preoccupied hearer receives the Word but lets the worries of this world & the desire for other things choke it out (v22)
The reproducing hearer receives the Word, understands it, bears fruit, and brings forth results (v.23)
Which kind of hearer are you?
small group discussion: what are some ways/examples we can hear the Word?
Read the Word
2nd way to Get in the Word is to read it.
“Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it.” Revelation 1:3
This is simply displaying the fact that it is a value in your life and making time to open up the Word of God.
Study the Word
When we study the Word, we go deeper into it’s meaning and application for our lives.
“Now the Bereans were of more noble character... for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”
Acts 17:11
With study, we begin to have more power in our handling of the Word. Bible study is an in-depth look into the scripture, to learn and to discover more than you would see during a simple overview or in a devotional reading. Studying involves comparing what the Bible says in one passage to other passages thruout the Bible. It might begin w/ a question that prompts you to search for it’s answer. It is helpful to use other study tools such as commentaries or concordances - there are a ton of helpful bible study websites. Maybe you want to do a word or person study in scripture - 1yr. I examined every word that Jesus spoke in the N.T. each gospel, the book of Acts and Rev. to discover - to do in depth study of the Character of Jesus Christ.
Memorize the Word
A deeper way to get the Word in you is to memorize it.
When you remember the Word, it really lives in you, you live in it, and God’s promises become your possessions.
“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word...I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:9,11
Jesus again models for us one reason why we need God’s Word hidden in our hearts. During His time of 40 days of solitude in the wilderness, Satan tempts Christ 3 different times -
How did Jesus model for us to deal w/ these temptations?
He quotes scripture.
It also helps us to answer those who may question our faith.
“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” 1 Pet. 3:15
Having God’s Word alive in us enables us to handle the pressures and difficulties of life so much easier. (life scrip. - sleep)
Meditate on the Word
Another way we live in the Word & the Word lives in us is to think about it or meditate on it.
“His delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:2
While memorization puts God’s Word in your head, meditation puts it in you heart.
When I’m referring to meditating on scrip. it’s not like sitting in some yoga stance chatting, “ooohhmmmm” it has nothing to do w/ eastern religious practices - those forms of meditation they are trying to close off their mind to everything around them to find the answer w/in themselves - let me assure of something right now - you don’t have the answer - it’s not in you! Only God has the answer - it is found in His Word.
Sure in our times of solitude listening for God, the Holy Spirit will answer and lead and guide us but in meditating on God’s Word is when you focus on a specific verse of scripture. Usually one line, 2 at the most and think it about it on how it applies to your life and ask the Holy Spirit for His revelation as we meditate on God’s Word. -
Read the verse a number of times, paraphrase it, apply your name in it (if that’s fitting) and always in study and in meditation have a pen/pencil and a notepad - b/c
“The same thing is true of the words I speak. They will not return to me empty. They make the things happen that I want to happen, and they succeed in doing what I send them to do.”
Isaiah 55:11
The Habit of Trusting in God’s Unconditional Love
In each of our lives, we will come to points of decision that will reveal where we put our trust and hope. We continue to face the fear of the negative consequences of taking a stand & the temptation to rely on our self-accumulated resources & efforts as our source of self-worth and security.
We live in a world that fuels the fires of pride and fear. Through fads, fashion, and pressure to ‘keep up w/ the Jones’ we are constantly being lured into believing we can secure a sense of meaning and safety in stuff, or wealth, or even other human relationships. Standing in absolute contrast to these temporary, always-at-risk, never secure places to put our trust is the unconditional love and promises of God.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Matthew 11:28-30
The effects of God’s personal, unchanging, unrestrained love for you are enormous - so enormous that it might seem easier to consider His love so far beyond comprehension that you may not or don’t even try to understand it - but if we do not try we leave the dearly purchased gift unopened and the joy of the giver unrealized.
To put our trust in His love not only affects our lives directly, but is integrated in every relationship and all that we do.
To be just like Jesus, we must love Jesus
Everything that we attempt in our lives, such as developing biblical character traits hangs in the balance in our response to the question Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?”
Our answer should not be taken lightly b/c Jesus is taking it
seriously. Our answer will reveal our true motivations for all we have done. Jesus asked, “Do you love me?”
He didn’t ask Peter if he feared Him, respected Him, or admired Him; instead He asked, “Do you love me?”
That is the beginning to everything in life. That is where new life starts. It’s a ? He asks us all - “Do you love me?”
Then live for me.
To be just like Jesus, we must love like Jesus
If we do not really love Jesus, then we will not truly love people.
Remember Jesus’ follow-up to His question for Peter? He 1st asks, “Do you love me?” Peter responds with, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.” A very similar response that we might have, huh? Jesus replies with, “Then feed my sheep”
So often we take this conversation between Jesus & Peter as a commissioning of sorts into ministry - we believe that, “well that was for Peter, he’s a pastor, it doesn’t apply to me in that way”
Aahhh... but it applies to every follower - Jesus wants to see the evidence of our love for Him.
“Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these, you have done it unto me.” Matthew 25:40
Jesus is teaching us that how we treat other people is how we treat Him.
As we clearly understand His unconditional love for us, we begin to put it into practice everyday. We are to express our love for Jesus, by loving those He places in our path.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Jn. 13:34,35
If we want to be just like Jesus, then we must love like Jesus
People matter to God, therefore people matter to us.
Our Character is essentially the sum of our Habits.
To be just like Jesus we need to develop these spiritual habits of solitude, prayer, intimate community, getting into God’s Word, and loving like Jesus.
“If we can see what God sees, we’ll do what God says”
Our Character is essentially the sum of our Habits.
The Habit of Solitude, Prayer, Intimate Community
The Habit of Getting in the Word
If we only used the Bible to study and apply it’s practical wisdom in our lives, dealing w/ people and overcoming challenges, it still would stand alone as the greatest book ever written. But the Bible is so much more than a how-to manual, it is an intimate love letter written to you from your Heavenly Father.
Through the words of Scripture, God invites us daily to experience new and exciting dimensions of His love.
Scripture is the holy Word from God, delivered by holy men, to teach holy truths, to make people holy.
We look at this book (the Bible) and think, “it’s sooo big” , but in reality if this is the primary document in which God communicates to His people, then it’s really small. So every paragraph, every line, every word is extremely important.
“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17
It is all good to know that the Bible is useful, reliable, & valuable.
It is another thing to make it your own in a practical way. It is only profitable if you read it. How can we make the Word of God more effective in our lives?
There are 5 practical ways we can cultivate the habit of Getting in the Word.
Hear the Word
The simplest way to receive the Word is to hear it from someone else. Even a young child or someone who cannot read can hear the Bible.
“If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” Mark 4:23
“Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” Romans 10:17
The parable of the sower, that Jesus taught in Matt. 13:3-23
lists 4 kinds of hearers of the Word.
The apathetic hearer hears the word but is not prepared to
receive and understand it (v19)
The superficial hearer receives the word temporarily but does not let it take root in the heart (v20-21)
The preoccupied hearer receives the Word but lets the worries of this world & the desire for other things choke it out (v22)
The reproducing hearer receives the Word, understands it, bears fruit, and brings forth results (v.23)
Which kind of hearer are you?
small group discussion: what are some ways/examples we can hear the Word?
Read the Word
2nd way to Get in the Word is to read it.
“Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it.” Revelation 1:3
This is simply displaying the fact that it is a value in your life and making time to open up the Word of God.
Study the Word
When we study the Word, we go deeper into it’s meaning and application for our lives.
“Now the Bereans were of more noble character... for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”
Acts 17:11
With study, we begin to have more power in our handling of the Word. Bible study is an in-depth look into the scripture, to learn and to discover more than you would see during a simple overview or in a devotional reading. Studying involves comparing what the Bible says in one passage to other passages thruout the Bible. It might begin w/ a question that prompts you to search for it’s answer. It is helpful to use other study tools such as commentaries or concordances - there are a ton of helpful bible study websites. Maybe you want to do a word or person study in scripture - 1yr. I examined every word that Jesus spoke in the N.T. each gospel, the book of Acts and Rev. to discover - to do in depth study of the Character of Jesus Christ.
Memorize the Word
A deeper way to get the Word in you is to memorize it.
When you remember the Word, it really lives in you, you live in it, and God’s promises become your possessions.
“How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word...I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” Psalm 119:9,11
Jesus again models for us one reason why we need God’s Word hidden in our hearts. During His time of 40 days of solitude in the wilderness, Satan tempts Christ 3 different times -
How did Jesus model for us to deal w/ these temptations?
He quotes scripture.
It also helps us to answer those who may question our faith.
“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” 1 Pet. 3:15
Having God’s Word alive in us enables us to handle the pressures and difficulties of life so much easier. (life scrip. - sleep)
Meditate on the Word
Another way we live in the Word & the Word lives in us is to think about it or meditate on it.
“His delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:2
While memorization puts God’s Word in your head, meditation puts it in you heart.
When I’m referring to meditating on scrip. it’s not like sitting in some yoga stance chatting, “ooohhmmmm” it has nothing to do w/ eastern religious practices - those forms of meditation they are trying to close off their mind to everything around them to find the answer w/in themselves - let me assure of something right now - you don’t have the answer - it’s not in you! Only God has the answer - it is found in His Word.
Sure in our times of solitude listening for God, the Holy Spirit will answer and lead and guide us but in meditating on God’s Word is when you focus on a specific verse of scripture. Usually one line, 2 at the most and think it about it on how it applies to your life and ask the Holy Spirit for His revelation as we meditate on God’s Word. -
Read the verse a number of times, paraphrase it, apply your name in it (if that’s fitting) and always in study and in meditation have a pen/pencil and a notepad - b/c
“The same thing is true of the words I speak. They will not return to me empty. They make the things happen that I want to happen, and they succeed in doing what I send them to do.”
Isaiah 55:11
The Habit of Trusting in God’s Unconditional Love
In each of our lives, we will come to points of decision that will reveal where we put our trust and hope. We continue to face the fear of the negative consequences of taking a stand & the temptation to rely on our self-accumulated resources & efforts as our source of self-worth and security.
We live in a world that fuels the fires of pride and fear. Through fads, fashion, and pressure to ‘keep up w/ the Jones’ we are constantly being lured into believing we can secure a sense of meaning and safety in stuff, or wealth, or even other human relationships. Standing in absolute contrast to these temporary, always-at-risk, never secure places to put our trust is the unconditional love and promises of God.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Matthew 11:28-30
The effects of God’s personal, unchanging, unrestrained love for you are enormous - so enormous that it might seem easier to consider His love so far beyond comprehension that you may not or don’t even try to understand it - but if we do not try we leave the dearly purchased gift unopened and the joy of the giver unrealized.
To put our trust in His love not only affects our lives directly, but is integrated in every relationship and all that we do.
To be just like Jesus, we must love Jesus
Everything that we attempt in our lives, such as developing biblical character traits hangs in the balance in our response to the question Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?”
Our answer should not be taken lightly b/c Jesus is taking it
seriously. Our answer will reveal our true motivations for all we have done. Jesus asked, “Do you love me?”
He didn’t ask Peter if he feared Him, respected Him, or admired Him; instead He asked, “Do you love me?”
That is the beginning to everything in life. That is where new life starts. It’s a ? He asks us all - “Do you love me?”
Then live for me.
To be just like Jesus, we must love like Jesus
If we do not really love Jesus, then we will not truly love people.
Remember Jesus’ follow-up to His question for Peter? He 1st asks, “Do you love me?” Peter responds with, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.” A very similar response that we might have, huh? Jesus replies with, “Then feed my sheep”
So often we take this conversation between Jesus & Peter as a commissioning of sorts into ministry - we believe that, “well that was for Peter, he’s a pastor, it doesn’t apply to me in that way”
Aahhh... but it applies to every follower - Jesus wants to see the evidence of our love for Him.
“Inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these, you have done it unto me.” Matthew 25:40
Jesus is teaching us that how we treat other people is how we treat Him.
As we clearly understand His unconditional love for us, we begin to put it into practice everyday. We are to express our love for Jesus, by loving those He places in our path.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Jn. 13:34,35
If we want to be just like Jesus, then we must love like Jesus
People matter to God, therefore people matter to us.
Our Character is essentially the sum of our Habits.
To be just like Jesus we need to develop these spiritual habits of solitude, prayer, intimate community, getting into God’s Word, and loving like Jesus.
“If we can see what God sees, we’ll do what God says”
Sunday, January 14, 2007
GETTING FOCUS* - "Just like Jesus" part 1
If we can see what God sees, we’ll do what God says
A couple of weeks ago I talked to you about Laying the Foundation for the new year -
we looked at 8 characteristics of Neh. that are essential for us in life
So today I’m going to get painfully practical - How do we instill those character traits in our own lives?
We have 2 selves: An external, task-oriented self that is used to getting jobs done, & we have an internal, more reflective self that is very thoughtful. Which of our 2 selves wakes up quicker in the morning? It’s our external, task-or. self.
What happens in the morning? The alarm goes off! which immediately ignites our task-or. self, & we jump out of bed.
We head to the bathroom, take care of business, begin getting ready for the work or school day - brush teeth (i hope), do our hair, make-up, clothes, get kids ready (if that applies), try to get some breakfast - race to the car b/c we’re running late - screaming for everyone to get in the car.
Move thru our w/s day - head home thinking of what needs to be done at home, get dinner ready, do homework w/kids, maybe talk on the phone a bit or watch some TV then fall into bed exhausted and the alarm goes off the next day!
Comedian Lily Tomlin once said, “The problem with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.”
To avoid being consumed by the rat race & the pressures of life, all of us need to develop strategies and spiritual habits that will help us stay on track w/ what’s really important.
So if we back up a couple of weeks to the 8 chara. of Neh.
How do we instill those character traits in our own lives?
(look at N.T. today and the life of Jesus Christ)
Our Character is essentially the sum of our habits
We get off track easily, we get distracted easily, even w/ the good. If we look at the life of Christ, we see Jesus never got off track - He stayed focused all of the time. What was it that kept Him on track and focused?
I believe it was His habits.
If we want to develop these char. traits then I think we need to look at the life of Christ, our perfect role model and carefully
observe His habits.
To ask, “WWJD” the answer can be found in His habits.
The Habit of Solitude
Of the 5 habits were going to discuss, solitude is by far the most elusive in our modern world of busyness and 24-7 communications. Solitude is a countercultural and challenging behavior.
It draws us into the very place from that we try so hard to avoid - being truly alone w/ God w/out an agenda.
It is a rare & often unsettling feeling to stop doing and just be.
Yet as strange as it feels to actively ‘cease moving forward’ or ‘doing’, the result can be life changing.
Solitude is being completely alone w/ God away from all human contact for extended periods of time. It is like stepping out out the back door of your noisy life of to-do lists and demanding
relationships to breathe in some fresh air.
It is being refreshed and restored in life by being alone w/ God and has nothing to do with the impact of our attempts to do something or from any other person. It is taking time to listen to that still small voice in which God speaks to your soul and tells you that you are His beloved.
Jesus modeled solitude as an integral component of His life and ministry:
-When preparing for for the tests of leadership & public min., Jesus spent 40 days alone in the desert
-Before Jesus chose His 12 Dis. from among His followers, He spent the entire night alone in the desert hills.
-When Jesus received the news of the death of John Bap, He withdrew in a boat to a lonely place
-After the miraculous feeding of the 5,000, Jesus went up in the hills by Himself
It was in these times of preparing to lead, making important decisions, handling bad news, & dealing w/ praise and recognition that Jesus modeled the value of spending time alone to settle in and find that ‘true north’ of our God compass.
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place,
where he prayed.” Mark 1:35
These words stand between Jesus and the temptation to spend His precious time doing the popular thing instead of doing the primary work He came to do.
The reality is most of us spend little time, if any time in solitude. Yet if we don’t, how can God have a chance to talk w/ us?
The Habit of Prayer
Prayer is an essential act of the will that demonstrates whether we are really serious about living like Jesus.
W/out it, we will never be able to open the way for connecting our plans and efforts w/ God’s plan for His kingdom or engaging the spiritual resources that Jesus promised to us all - that is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Seeking God’s will thru prayer, waiting in faith for an answer, & being at peace w/ the outcome call for a level of spiritual maturity that will keep anyone seeking to be just like Jesus in the posture of a lifelong learner.
Jesus’ Prayer in Gethsemane
Nowhere in the bible is a model of praying like Jesus more powerfully provided for us than in the dark hours of the night before He was betrayed. This was a time when the temptation to abandon His mission was at an almost unbearable moment:
“Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." Matthew 26:36-39
1. Where did Jesus pray and why?
He went off by Himself for prayer. A troubled soul finds the most ease when it is alone w/ God, who understands the broken language of sighs and groans. While alone w/ the Father, Jesus could freely pour out His heart w/out restraint.
2. What was Jesus’ posture in prayer?
He fell on His face before His Father, indicating His agony, extreme sorrow, and humility in prayer. At other times Jesus prayed looking up to heaven, w/ His eyes open, or kneeling.
The posture of the heart is more important than the posture of the body, but physically kneeling or laying
before God helps our heart posture.
3. What did Jesus ask?
He asked, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.
He was asking if He could avoid suffering on the cross. But notice the way He phrased His request: if it is possible
He left the answer to the Father when He said, Yet not as I will, but as you will. He based His own willingness upon the Father’s will.
4. What was the answer to Jesus’ prayer?
His answer was that the will of the Father be done. He got His answer, and was strengthened for the mission He was to fulfill.
Sometimes that’s not so easy for us, our human tendency is to avoid the pain or difficulty - but we must trust in the fact that Father knows best. He has our best interests - He knows what lies ahead and we are trust and believe in faith.
Some people ask, ‘how do you pray’? 1st of all, prayer is not a technique; it’s a conversation w/ God. We all need to develop our own style of conversing w/ the Father - He wants you to be you - to talk to Him as any other conver. - not imitating a prayer or someone who we may think really prays great prayers - just be yourself. With that said, sometimes a little framework is helpful to get started or to lead our prayers.
the ACTS acronym is very helpful for that.
Adoration - All prayer should begin here.
“Enter His courts w/ praise.” Tell God how amazing He is... to you... in your life... in the world
Confession - Immediately when we come into the presence of a holy God, we sense our inadequacies and realize that we fall short of His glory - So our 1st step in meeting and adoring is confession. We may even want to confess our sins before we express our adoration and love.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
Thanksgiving - This is a heartfelt expression of gratitude for all He has done in creation, in redemption (saving us), & in our lives. During this time of prayer thank God specifically for all that He has done since the last time you talked.
“Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:19-20
Supplication - Finally, we get to the part where most of us start - asking. Supplication is just a big word for asking for what you need. Start by praying about others’ needs & then ask for your own needs to be met. It’s OK to have a big “wish list” - according to God’s Word, we can ask in confidence.
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7
God wants to know the details of your life - the big and the small so spill your guts.
The Habit of Intimate Community
The time Jesus spent in fellowship, hanging out w/ His disciples seems to have been for their benefit and His.
Among the 12 that He called out to be His apostles, Jesus had a small group of 3, Pete, Jim, & John - w/ whom He seemed to have a closer relationship with.
He took those 3 w/ Him to special places and events - the Mount of Transfiguration, the 3 were w/ Him when He raised the daughter of the synagogue leader from the dead, and this inner circle was w/ Him on the night He would be betrayed and arrested on His final journey to the cross.
We need others in our lives - we were created for community.
When we rely on our own perspective of how we are doing, we are bound to slip into convenient thinking to go easy on ourselves, to compromise our integrity of these characteristics we are trying to establish in our lives.
We need trusted truth-tellers.
Preferably those not directly impacted by what we do, who can help us stay on course.
If you can’t name any truth-tellers in your life, or if you have avoided or undervalued the ones you have, it’s time to change.
Having truth-tellers is probably the greatest resource for growth that we can have.
“Wounds from a friend can be trusted.” Proverbs 27:6
Bring truth-tellers into your life - it allows accountability - and enables us to open up - to share and listen, to be vulnerable.
Being vulnerable is one of the most powerful things we can do in building relationships w/ others.
They know you’re not perfect, so don’t act like you are.
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10,12
We also need encouragers
When things aren’t going so smooth, when life is beating you up, when you want to pinch the heads off your kids, when you work for that pushy, arrogant boss - we need others to lift us up out of the doldrums - we need encouragement
We need someone to tell us everything is going to be OK
Sometimes life just rips out the capacity to believe in what you are capable of doing - sometimes we have waited for something to happen for long we don’t ever think it’s going to happen. Sometimes it’s attempts that failed, “I gave it my best shot, it didn’t happen”
So when times get tough we just lower our stand/expect.
We need others to put the ‘courage’ back in our lives.
We need others helping us to believe that we can do all and everything God has called us to do - to say, YES U CAN!
“let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together... but let us encourage one another.” Hebrews 10:24-25
This habit, Intimate Community, along w/ Solitude and Prayer
will keep us focused - to develop these habits in life will equate to the character traits we all long for.
To try our best to be just like Jesus.
Our Character is essentially the sum of our habits
If we can see what God sees, we’ll do what God says
A couple of weeks ago I talked to you about Laying the Foundation for the new year -
we looked at 8 characteristics of Neh. that are essential for us in life
So today I’m going to get painfully practical - How do we instill those character traits in our own lives?
We have 2 selves: An external, task-oriented self that is used to getting jobs done, & we have an internal, more reflective self that is very thoughtful. Which of our 2 selves wakes up quicker in the morning? It’s our external, task-or. self.
What happens in the morning? The alarm goes off! which immediately ignites our task-or. self, & we jump out of bed.
We head to the bathroom, take care of business, begin getting ready for the work or school day - brush teeth (i hope), do our hair, make-up, clothes, get kids ready (if that applies), try to get some breakfast - race to the car b/c we’re running late - screaming for everyone to get in the car.
Move thru our w/s day - head home thinking of what needs to be done at home, get dinner ready, do homework w/kids, maybe talk on the phone a bit or watch some TV then fall into bed exhausted and the alarm goes off the next day!
Comedian Lily Tomlin once said, “The problem with the rat race is that even if you win, you’re still a rat.”
To avoid being consumed by the rat race & the pressures of life, all of us need to develop strategies and spiritual habits that will help us stay on track w/ what’s really important.
So if we back up a couple of weeks to the 8 chara. of Neh.
How do we instill those character traits in our own lives?
(look at N.T. today and the life of Jesus Christ)
Our Character is essentially the sum of our habits
We get off track easily, we get distracted easily, even w/ the good. If we look at the life of Christ, we see Jesus never got off track - He stayed focused all of the time. What was it that kept Him on track and focused?
I believe it was His habits.
If we want to develop these char. traits then I think we need to look at the life of Christ, our perfect role model and carefully
observe His habits.
To ask, “WWJD” the answer can be found in His habits.
The Habit of Solitude
Of the 5 habits were going to discuss, solitude is by far the most elusive in our modern world of busyness and 24-7 communications. Solitude is a countercultural and challenging behavior.
It draws us into the very place from that we try so hard to avoid - being truly alone w/ God w/out an agenda.
It is a rare & often unsettling feeling to stop doing and just be.
Yet as strange as it feels to actively ‘cease moving forward’ or ‘doing’, the result can be life changing.
Solitude is being completely alone w/ God away from all human contact for extended periods of time. It is like stepping out out the back door of your noisy life of to-do lists and demanding
relationships to breathe in some fresh air.
It is being refreshed and restored in life by being alone w/ God and has nothing to do with the impact of our attempts to do something or from any other person. It is taking time to listen to that still small voice in which God speaks to your soul and tells you that you are His beloved.
Jesus modeled solitude as an integral component of His life and ministry:
-When preparing for for the tests of leadership & public min., Jesus spent 40 days alone in the desert
-Before Jesus chose His 12 Dis. from among His followers, He spent the entire night alone in the desert hills.
-When Jesus received the news of the death of John Bap, He withdrew in a boat to a lonely place
-After the miraculous feeding of the 5,000, Jesus went up in the hills by Himself
It was in these times of preparing to lead, making important decisions, handling bad news, & dealing w/ praise and recognition that Jesus modeled the value of spending time alone to settle in and find that ‘true north’ of our God compass.
“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place,
where he prayed.” Mark 1:35
These words stand between Jesus and the temptation to spend His precious time doing the popular thing instead of doing the primary work He came to do.
The reality is most of us spend little time, if any time in solitude. Yet if we don’t, how can God have a chance to talk w/ us?
The Habit of Prayer
Prayer is an essential act of the will that demonstrates whether we are really serious about living like Jesus.
W/out it, we will never be able to open the way for connecting our plans and efforts w/ God’s plan for His kingdom or engaging the spiritual resources that Jesus promised to us all - that is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Seeking God’s will thru prayer, waiting in faith for an answer, & being at peace w/ the outcome call for a level of spiritual maturity that will keep anyone seeking to be just like Jesus in the posture of a lifelong learner.
Jesus’ Prayer in Gethsemane
Nowhere in the bible is a model of praying like Jesus more powerfully provided for us than in the dark hours of the night before He was betrayed. This was a time when the temptation to abandon His mission was at an almost unbearable moment:
“Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." Matthew 26:36-39
1. Where did Jesus pray and why?
He went off by Himself for prayer. A troubled soul finds the most ease when it is alone w/ God, who understands the broken language of sighs and groans. While alone w/ the Father, Jesus could freely pour out His heart w/out restraint.
2. What was Jesus’ posture in prayer?
He fell on His face before His Father, indicating His agony, extreme sorrow, and humility in prayer. At other times Jesus prayed looking up to heaven, w/ His eyes open, or kneeling.
The posture of the heart is more important than the posture of the body, but physically kneeling or laying
before God helps our heart posture.
3. What did Jesus ask?
He asked, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.
He was asking if He could avoid suffering on the cross. But notice the way He phrased His request: if it is possible
He left the answer to the Father when He said, Yet not as I will, but as you will. He based His own willingness upon the Father’s will.
4. What was the answer to Jesus’ prayer?
His answer was that the will of the Father be done. He got His answer, and was strengthened for the mission He was to fulfill.
Sometimes that’s not so easy for us, our human tendency is to avoid the pain or difficulty - but we must trust in the fact that Father knows best. He has our best interests - He knows what lies ahead and we are trust and believe in faith.
Some people ask, ‘how do you pray’? 1st of all, prayer is not a technique; it’s a conversation w/ God. We all need to develop our own style of conversing w/ the Father - He wants you to be you - to talk to Him as any other conver. - not imitating a prayer or someone who we may think really prays great prayers - just be yourself. With that said, sometimes a little framework is helpful to get started or to lead our prayers.
the ACTS acronym is very helpful for that.
Adoration - All prayer should begin here.
“Enter His courts w/ praise.” Tell God how amazing He is... to you... in your life... in the world
Confession - Immediately when we come into the presence of a holy God, we sense our inadequacies and realize that we fall short of His glory - So our 1st step in meeting and adoring is confession. We may even want to confess our sins before we express our adoration and love.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
Thanksgiving - This is a heartfelt expression of gratitude for all He has done in creation, in redemption (saving us), & in our lives. During this time of prayer thank God specifically for all that He has done since the last time you talked.
“Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:19-20
Supplication - Finally, we get to the part where most of us start - asking. Supplication is just a big word for asking for what you need. Start by praying about others’ needs & then ask for your own needs to be met. It’s OK to have a big “wish list” - according to God’s Word, we can ask in confidence.
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Matthew 7:7
God wants to know the details of your life - the big and the small so spill your guts.
The Habit of Intimate Community
The time Jesus spent in fellowship, hanging out w/ His disciples seems to have been for their benefit and His.
Among the 12 that He called out to be His apostles, Jesus had a small group of 3, Pete, Jim, & John - w/ whom He seemed to have a closer relationship with.
He took those 3 w/ Him to special places and events - the Mount of Transfiguration, the 3 were w/ Him when He raised the daughter of the synagogue leader from the dead, and this inner circle was w/ Him on the night He would be betrayed and arrested on His final journey to the cross.
We need others in our lives - we were created for community.
When we rely on our own perspective of how we are doing, we are bound to slip into convenient thinking to go easy on ourselves, to compromise our integrity of these characteristics we are trying to establish in our lives.
We need trusted truth-tellers.
Preferably those not directly impacted by what we do, who can help us stay on course.
If you can’t name any truth-tellers in your life, or if you have avoided or undervalued the ones you have, it’s time to change.
Having truth-tellers is probably the greatest resource for growth that we can have.
“Wounds from a friend can be trusted.” Proverbs 27:6
Bring truth-tellers into your life - it allows accountability - and enables us to open up - to share and listen, to be vulnerable.
Being vulnerable is one of the most powerful things we can do in building relationships w/ others.
They know you’re not perfect, so don’t act like you are.
“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10,12
We also need encouragers
When things aren’t going so smooth, when life is beating you up, when you want to pinch the heads off your kids, when you work for that pushy, arrogant boss - we need others to lift us up out of the doldrums - we need encouragement
We need someone to tell us everything is going to be OK
Sometimes life just rips out the capacity to believe in what you are capable of doing - sometimes we have waited for something to happen for long we don’t ever think it’s going to happen. Sometimes it’s attempts that failed, “I gave it my best shot, it didn’t happen”
So when times get tough we just lower our stand/expect.
We need others to put the ‘courage’ back in our lives.
We need others helping us to believe that we can do all and everything God has called us to do - to say, YES U CAN!
“let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together... but let us encourage one another.” Hebrews 10:24-25
This habit, Intimate Community, along w/ Solitude and Prayer
will keep us focused - to develop these habits in life will equate to the character traits we all long for.
To try our best to be just like Jesus.
Our Character is essentially the sum of our habits
If we can see what God sees, we’ll do what God says
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)