How many of you have a:
Cell phone?
MySpace?
Car?
Boyfriend or girlfriend?
Good relationship with your parents?
Good relationship with God?
How many of you think about your relationship with God when:
Your on your cell phone?
On My Space?
In your car?
With your bf or gf?
With your parents?
What are cell phones all about?
Why is MySpace generally all about?
Generally all the stuff in our lives (cell phones, cars, MySpace) and the stuff we do (tanning, how we spend our money, where we spend our time) is all about us.
It is generally the mindset of taking care of number 1.
Me, mine, myself mentality.
The average Christian goes to church one time a week. (and in all actuality they probably open their bibles less than that.) But they go to church.
Why do we go to church?
Pick up chicks?
Cause we have to?
We don’t do it to be noticed in our new dress, we don’t do it for attention to ourselves, we need to come for God. We do it all for Him.
I think it is important for us to remember the reason we are all here (on this planet)…is for God. It is for us to be open to His leading and His direction.
The focus lately in my view has shifted where church and Christianity is more of a “me first” mentality. Where we show up to be noticed in our new dress, or to bring attention to ourselves in some way.
And in doing that we miss the whole point of being Christian. We miss the one who can help; we miss out on a lot because we focus on ourselves.
So what am I trying to say…. “Get over yourself”
I want you to know I am not picking on any one person. I am not singling you out in any way, but…. Some of you will be convicted with some of the stuff that is said. Some of you may feel it is directed right at you, that is a God thing. And if he speaks to you through this and to your heart, ACT on IT! Change. Modify your behavior to be God’s instrument.
Basically how the “normal” human being acts is one of selfishness. It is all about “me”.
From friends we have just because they think we’re cool and build us up.
Maybe it is ways we act to get attention for ourselves. (whether it is good attention or bad, I don’t think it matters these days as long as your name is known for something.)
This all about me mentality is funny. It is funny because for the majority of us we say we love God and follow His ways.
Romans 12:10 says:
10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
How many of us act that way on a regular basis? Not many. Generally the mentality is honor myself and everyone else can take care of themselves. That is sad.
Ephesians 4:2 says:
2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Hebrews 10:24 says:
24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
We are ok with the Hebrews quote as long as we add the ending that we remain above them in stature and importance.
24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. “and let us remain more popular, better off and above them..”
A lot of times we are more like Cain, than Abel.
1 John 3:11 describes this for us:
11This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. 13Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. 14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
We don’t like to put others above ourselves because that makes us vulnerable. We don’t want anyone in front of us because that means we have to depend on someone other than ourselves, and that is scary.
It is for that same reason we suppress God even below us in importance, because that requires faith and trust.
A school teacher lost her life savings in a business scheme that had been elaborately explained by a swindler. When her investment disappeared and her dream was shattered, she went to the Better Business Bureau. "Why on earth didn't you come to us first?" the official asked. "Didn't you know about the Better Business Bureau?" "Oh, yes," said the lady sadly. "I've always known about you. But I didn't come because I was afraid you'd tell me not to do it." The folly of human nature is that even though we know where the answers lie--God's Word--we don't turn there for fear of what it will say.
Jerry Lambert.
We know what we’re supposed to do. We know how we’re supposed to live but we don’t for fear of what that would mean to us.
Instead we think it is good to stand out for the wrong reasons….just because we need that attention.
For example:
Who can make the biggest disruption to get the most attention
(Whether that is at school, or at church. )
Who can be the biggest rebel (anyone ever wanted to be a rebel? You know have the bad boy or bad girl connotation?)
some examples of this:
§ “Yeah me and my boyfriend went all the way.”
End result: “Yeah my boyfriend just used me and we broke up.” or
“I’m pregnant”
Both end results are apart from what God wants for your life. Both miss the mark.
Both are results of selfish motives.
Both end in pain and anguish
Cell phone?
MySpace?
Car?
Boyfriend or girlfriend?
Good relationship with your parents?
Good relationship with God?
How many of you think about your relationship with God when:
Your on your cell phone?
On My Space?
In your car?
With your bf or gf?
With your parents?
What are cell phones all about?
Why is MySpace generally all about?
Generally all the stuff in our lives (cell phones, cars, MySpace) and the stuff we do (tanning, how we spend our money, where we spend our time) is all about us.
It is generally the mindset of taking care of number 1.
Me, mine, myself mentality.
The average Christian goes to church one time a week. (and in all actuality they probably open their bibles less than that.) But they go to church.
Why do we go to church?
Pick up chicks?
Cause we have to?
We don’t do it to be noticed in our new dress, we don’t do it for attention to ourselves, we need to come for God. We do it all for Him.
I think it is important for us to remember the reason we are all here (on this planet)…is for God. It is for us to be open to His leading and His direction.
The focus lately in my view has shifted where church and Christianity is more of a “me first” mentality. Where we show up to be noticed in our new dress, or to bring attention to ourselves in some way.
And in doing that we miss the whole point of being Christian. We miss the one who can help; we miss out on a lot because we focus on ourselves.
So what am I trying to say…. “Get over yourself”
I want you to know I am not picking on any one person. I am not singling you out in any way, but…. Some of you will be convicted with some of the stuff that is said. Some of you may feel it is directed right at you, that is a God thing. And if he speaks to you through this and to your heart, ACT on IT! Change. Modify your behavior to be God’s instrument.
Basically how the “normal” human being acts is one of selfishness. It is all about “me”.
From friends we have just because they think we’re cool and build us up.
Maybe it is ways we act to get attention for ourselves. (whether it is good attention or bad, I don’t think it matters these days as long as your name is known for something.)
This all about me mentality is funny. It is funny because for the majority of us we say we love God and follow His ways.
Romans 12:10 says:
10Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.
How many of us act that way on a regular basis? Not many. Generally the mentality is honor myself and everyone else can take care of themselves. That is sad.
Ephesians 4:2 says:
2Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
Hebrews 10:24 says:
24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.
We are ok with the Hebrews quote as long as we add the ending that we remain above them in stature and importance.
24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. “and let us remain more popular, better off and above them..”
A lot of times we are more like Cain, than Abel.
1 John 3:11 describes this for us:
11This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. 13Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. 14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.
We don’t like to put others above ourselves because that makes us vulnerable. We don’t want anyone in front of us because that means we have to depend on someone other than ourselves, and that is scary.
It is for that same reason we suppress God even below us in importance, because that requires faith and trust.
A school teacher lost her life savings in a business scheme that had been elaborately explained by a swindler. When her investment disappeared and her dream was shattered, she went to the Better Business Bureau. "Why on earth didn't you come to us first?" the official asked. "Didn't you know about the Better Business Bureau?" "Oh, yes," said the lady sadly. "I've always known about you. But I didn't come because I was afraid you'd tell me not to do it." The folly of human nature is that even though we know where the answers lie--God's Word--we don't turn there for fear of what it will say.
Jerry Lambert.
We know what we’re supposed to do. We know how we’re supposed to live but we don’t for fear of what that would mean to us.
Instead we think it is good to stand out for the wrong reasons….just because we need that attention.
For example:
Who can make the biggest disruption to get the most attention
(Whether that is at school, or at church. )
Who can be the biggest rebel (anyone ever wanted to be a rebel? You know have the bad boy or bad girl connotation?)
some examples of this:
§ “Yeah me and my boyfriend went all the way.”
End result: “Yeah my boyfriend just used me and we broke up.” or
“I’m pregnant”
Both end results are apart from what God wants for your life. Both miss the mark.
Both are results of selfish motives.
Both end in pain and anguish
How about:
§ “I snuck out of my house and went to that party.”
End result: “yeah, I got drunk and I’m really not sure what I did last night”
“well I got in trouble when I got back and my parents found out”
Both results end in broken trust. When you disobey your parents or an adult for
§ “I snuck out of my house and went to that party.”
End result: “yeah, I got drunk and I’m really not sure what I did last night”
“well I got in trouble when I got back and my parents found out”
Both results end in broken trust. When you disobey your parents or an adult for
selfish reasons, trust is broken. Once trust is broken the one who has broken the trust
has the responsibility to rebuild it.
How about:
§ “Yeah well my MySpace is trashier than yours.”
End result: “people keep calling me trashy”
“weird guys keep hitting on me on MySpace”
The results are because of your actions. You act trashy; sooner or later you’ll be called trash. If you don’t want to attract flies, quit acting like trash.
Some people are under the misconception that hey can act one way around church and another away from it. You can. You can if you have no real relationship with Christ.
Some people talk to me one way, whether that’s in person or on MySpace, and then use different language around others or even on their MySpace. You can. You can if you’re fake. You can if you don’t have a clue what God expects or wants with your life.
Revelation 3:15-17
15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
So what do we do? Well first of all we suck it up. We decide what we want and what we believe. Then we look at some Biblical examples of people who were not about themselves but were open to God’s direction:
God uses the people we would least expect.
12 disciple’s à ordinary people but they followed Jesus, wholeheartedly.
David à youngest of his family and smallest in size. He was called a man after God’s own heart.
Gideon à least of his people, smallest tribe, smallest family in size and stature. Was a great leader and warrior for God.
None of them looked for themselves. All of them sought God in all they did. They weren’t in the relationship for selfish reasons.
As Christian’s we’re not suppose to pull attention to ourselves. We’re supposed to direct attention to God. We are merely called to be mirrors. And we all are mirrors.
§ “Yeah well my MySpace is trashier than yours.”
End result: “people keep calling me trashy”
“weird guys keep hitting on me on MySpace”
The results are because of your actions. You act trashy; sooner or later you’ll be called trash. If you don’t want to attract flies, quit acting like trash.
Some people are under the misconception that hey can act one way around church and another away from it. You can. You can if you have no real relationship with Christ.
Some people talk to me one way, whether that’s in person or on MySpace, and then use different language around others or even on their MySpace. You can. You can if you’re fake. You can if you don’t have a clue what God expects or wants with your life.
Revelation 3:15-17
15I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
So what do we do? Well first of all we suck it up. We decide what we want and what we believe. Then we look at some Biblical examples of people who were not about themselves but were open to God’s direction:
God uses the people we would least expect.
12 disciple’s à ordinary people but they followed Jesus, wholeheartedly.
David à youngest of his family and smallest in size. He was called a man after God’s own heart.
Gideon à least of his people, smallest tribe, smallest family in size and stature. Was a great leader and warrior for God.
None of them looked for themselves. All of them sought God in all they did. They weren’t in the relationship for selfish reasons.
As Christian’s we’re not suppose to pull attention to ourselves. We’re supposed to direct attention to God. We are merely called to be mirrors. And we all are mirrors.
But what does your life reflect?
2 Corinthians 5:17
17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
2 Corinthians 5:17
17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
1 comment:
wow brian that is such an awesome message and also im so glad that your still preachin even thought your not in the church
love ya B
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