The Purpose of Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Welcome to the RISE Christmas party. But more importantly, welcome to the week where we and the world are, or least should be focused on an event that happened two thousand years ago in a little town in the Middle East. But today, two thousand years later, it can still stop traffic. How is that? What’s so special about Christmas? Why is it that it’s the most celebrated holiday on the planet? Why is it that, next week, billions of people will shut down work, shut down their schools, go to a service, attend parties, and gather in their homes to celebrate Christmas. What makes Christmas special?

Although tonight is the RISE Christmas party, tonight I want to try to get us to focus on why we celebrate it.

At the very first Christmas, at the birth of Jesus, an angel announced three things:

1. Christmas is a time for celebration.
2. Christmas is a time for salvation.
3. Christmas is a time for reconciliation.

For those of you that attended worship at CCC a couple of weeks ago, Pastor John talked about the Charlie Brown Christmas where Charlie Brown asks the question that today everyone seems to have forgotten- that is, “Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?” Let’s take a look. (VIDEO).

I remember watching that as a kid, and it means more to me today than it ever has. And, I’m going to tell you why. Because over the past 18 months or so that I have had this great privilege to worship God with all of you, and grow in my faith with all of you, I have met some pretty great people in here that I am proud to know. I know some of you better than others, but I truly and sincerely consider all of you my brothers or sisters in Christ. But I wouldn’t be a true brother or sister in Christ with you unless I shared my personal life with you, and why Christmas means more to me than giving gifts to people who don’t need gifts, more than lights and wreaths, more than candy canes and really, really bad fruitcakes. So here goes-

I was born a Jew. As a kid in elementary school, junior high and high school I don’t remember my faith having any particular importance in my life. It seemed like more than anything that being a Jew was just something I was called, rather than who I was. For those of you who may be familiar with American Judaism, Jews in America fall for the most part into three groups- Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform. Our family was part of the “Reform” movement, which looking back, just meant to me that if you didn’t want to be “religious,” you could just do what you want and be called a Reform Jew. My family really didn’t celebrate any of the Jewish holidays- oh, don’t get me wrong, my family took full advantage of skipping work or school if a Jewish holiday fell on a work or school day. But those days were usually filled with extreme and exhausting boredom, where myself and my brothers just kinda watched my dad read the newspaper and smoke his cigars. I knew when I was 15 that there had to be something more to “God” than this! But God had plans for me, and it just took Him a while to put me in a place where I would cross paths with the RISE. Now, fast forward to last week, when my Mother, who lives in Delaware, called to say hello and kind of check in. Well, after the obligatory discussion about the weather that seemed to go on forever, my Mother asked if we had finished all of our Christmas shopping. And, in the nicest way possible, I tried to tell her that our focus was not on buying lots of stuff. Sorry Stephen. I mean, I tried to convey to her that we just weren’t obsessed with buying lots of useless gifts, that that’s not what the season means to us. She wanted to know what it did mean. Now understand, I’ve been dancing on the sidelines with my family about my faith for the past couple of years. But, it was time- it was time for me to be proud to be called a Christian, and tell her the simple truth- that Christmas is a time where we celebrate to birth of Jesus Christ. You would have thought I told her that I had committed to most heinous crime imaginable. She yelled and screamed and told me how bad it was for me to tell her that, that I was born a Jew. Oh, the shrill of hatred of Christ and my conversion she has. And she hung up on me.

Was I upset? Of course I was. Would it be easier if my family would accept my decision for Christ? Of course it would. But like the guy who helped bring me to Christ said, I am Jewish, in fact I am a “complete Jew”, which is a term used for a Jewish person who has received Christ. All of Judaism hinges on the coming Messiah and the prophecy surrounding that event. I just realize that it happened 2000 years ago, and that He is alive today and loves me and all who believe in Him. He even loves my Mother.

So when I see that clip from Charlie Brown tonight, it means more to me than a funny cartoon- it is a major reason why we are all here tonight!

In Luke 2, the Bible says –“And there were shepherds out in the field nearby keeping watch over their flock by night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shown around them, and they were terrified. [I would be too if I saw an angel!] But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news. I bring you good news of great joy. I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all people.’”

So the first purpose of Christmas is CELEBRATION. It’s a party. The bible says “I bring you good news of great joy.” Actually, it’s a birthday party.

At Christmas, we have more parties than any other time of the year. Yet, it’s ironic that, often, the guest of honor is totally left out of the party. Christmas is a birthday party for Jesus. It’s why we say “Merry Christmas.” I don’t want to shock you, but God really likes parties. God is into parties. God likes to party. In fact, the Bible says that the angels hold a party every time a person turns away from their self-centeredness and turns to Him.

I read an article where a Pastor went out in the streets of Boston last week and asked people, “What are you going to be celebrating this Christmas?” This is what they said.

“This Christmas, what am I celebrating? Not a lot this Christmas.”

“The blessings that we’ve had in our family this year.”

“Just the Christmas spirit.”

“Being home and not being on the road for the holidays.”

“Family.”

“This Christmas? I’m celebrating the birth of Christ.”

“ Nothing. I just want to get through it.”

A lot of people feel that way about the Christmas season. “I’m not celebrating anything. I just want to get through it.” Some of you feel that way about my message tonight – “Man, I just want to get through it.”

The bottom line is this, Christmas is a party! We’re supposed to celebrate, but sometimes we’re so busy preparing, getting ready, buying presents, planning, we don’t have time to celebrate. We lose the joy of what the moment is all about.

This week, I was out Christmas shopping. I’m at the Emerald Square Mall in North Attleboro and I’m just standing in the middle of mall watching thousands of people, and nobody looked happy. They all looked pressured and stressed. They all looked a little cranky and it started wearing off on me. Just shows how easily we can lose the joy.

The good news of Christmas is three things. When God sent Jesus Christ to Earth, He was saying three things. One, God loves us. Two, God is with us. Three, God is for us. If that isn’t worth celebrating, nothing is.

First, God loves us.

The most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16, says – “God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” That’s the good news. God loved the world. That’s why He sent Jesus. He was sent on a message of love.

Christmas is saying to you, God says, “I love you.” The Bible says God is love. And God created the entire universe, just so He could create this planet, just so He could create the human race, just so He could create you, just so He could love you.

And He loves you on your good days as much as your bad days. And He loves you when you feel it, and He loves you when you don’t feel it. He loves you when you think you deserve it, and He loves you when you think you don’t deserve it. Because His love isn’t based on what you do. His love is based on who He is. None of us will never fully comprehend how much God loves you. It’s like an ant trying to understand the Internet. None of us have the brain capacity to understand how much God loves you.

But not only does God love you, but He’s with you.

You may not feel it, but it has nothing to do with your feelings. He’s with you all the time. The Bible says Jesus’ name was to be called Emmanuel, which means, “God is with us.” God says in the Bible, “I will never leave you, and I will never abandon you.”

How many of you have been abandoned in life? Abandoned by friends. Abandoned by your teachers. Abandoned by your parents. I know some of you in here have. In fact, some refer to your generation as the “Abandoned Generation.” And I am sorry for that. It crushes me, it crushes Derek, and it crushes the entire youth team to know that some of you in here have been abandoned. By anything or anyone. But, if there is anything you can take from tonight, take this- God will NEVER EVER abandon you. You may not feel it. That may sound kind of weird to you.

The good news is this – God says, “I not only love you. I’m with you all the time, you just need to be aware of it.” It means you don’t have to face anything in 2008 by yourself. You can, but you don’t have to. Because God says, “I will be with you.” When God is near, it removes your fear. You don’t have to worry. You don’t have to sweat it. You don’t have to be anxious about what’s going to happen. Because when God is near, you lose your fear. God says, “I’m going to give you hope.” If you’re lonely this Christmas, I urge you to give Jesus Christ a chance and sense that relationship in your heart.

He’s not only loving you, and He’s not only with you, but the Bible says God is for you.
He’s on your side. He wants you to win. He wants you to succeed in school. He wants you to succeed at work. He wants you to succeed in having great relationships with your friends. In fact, Jesus said this – “God did not send His Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it.” So many people are afraid of God. You may be afraid of God. Maybe you get nervous when people start talking about God. You know why? It’s guilt. Guilt separates us from God. You think, “If I get close to God, He’s going to scold me. He’s going to remind me of all the things I’ve done wrong. He’s going to tell me the bad stuff.” That’s what I thought when I went to see my dentist earlier this fall. I thought, oh man, this guy is going to scold me and yell at me because I lost a couple of teeth because I didn’t care for them like he said I should.

But God said, “I didn’t come to scold you. I came to save you. That’s the good news. I’m not only with you. I not only love you. I am for you.” And if God is for us, who can be against us?

Jesus came to save us, not to scare us. That’s why the very first words of the angel was “Don’t be afraid.” You don’t need to be afraid. Because He says, “I love you, I’m with you, and I’m for you.” And that’s why we celebrate at Christmas.

The second purpose of Christmas is salvation.

That’s the second thing that the angels mention when they announce the birth of Jesus. The bible says, “Today, in the town of Bethlehem, a savior [there’s the salvation part] has been born to you, and He is Christ the Lord.”

Let me just make a point here. God never wastes any energy. He doesn’t do stuff that isn’t needed. So if you didn’t need a savior, believe me, He wouldn’t have gone to all the effort and trouble to send one. Does that make sense? God does not waste energy on things you don’t need. But the fact that He sent a savior to Earth means you need one. Whether you realize it or not, you need a savior.

A lot of people have trouble understanding salvation. I bet there are a lot of people you may have spoken to that know you are a Christian or attend youth ministry on Friday nights that may ask, “saved from what?” What does it mean to be saved? People say, “He was saved!” Was he drowning or something? But “saved” is just a another word for rescued, set free, or released.

How many times have you said that in your life, “Oh, God, I messed up- please get me out of this?” When you say that, you need a savior. Every time you go, “God, I need Your help,” you need a savior. “God, get me out of this.”

So what are you saved from?

First you’re saved from sin. That’s what Jesus’ name means. “Jesus” means “to save people from their sin.” In fact, Joseph was told in a dream these words “Give Him the name Jesus because He will save His people from their sin.” That’s what “Jesus” means.

What in the world is sin anyway? What’s sin? Everybody’s got their list. I used to have a list. Don’t drink, don’t cuss, don’t smoke, don’t run around with girls who do. The fact is, everybody’s got their list. You’ve got your list of what you think is sin, and I’ve got my list.

But you know what sin really is- sin is an attitude. It’s not something you do. It’s an attitude. It’s, “I want to be my own boss. I don’t need God. It’s saying “God, You do Your thing and I’ll do my thing.” Sin is saying, “God, I know what will make me happy more than You do.

The Bible says that every one of us has had that attitude at times in our life when we’ve said, “I’m just going to do what I want to do. Forget God. We usually think that way when we’re frustrated, or when we’re angry, or when we’re hurt. But that attitude causes us to be separated from God. That’s why when you pray, you may feel like your prayers are just bouncing off the ceiling, because they do. There’s a separation between you and God. That’s why He sent Jesus as a savior.

Every one of your problems is caused by sin, that separation from God. Every single one of them. Sin causes confusion in your life. Sin causes guilt in your life. Sin causes shame in your life. It causes regret. It causes bitterness, resentment, and grudges. It causes worry. It causes fear. It causes anxiety. Sin causes depression. It causes discouragement. It causes emptiness. It causes despair. It causes conflict between you and other people. Every single one of your problems is caused because you’re not connected to God. If sin causes all of that, why go on sinning?

As a result of that, Jesus said, “I want to set you free. I want to release you. I want to save you.” Jesus said I want to save you from the burden of guilt. Jesus wants to set you free from the pain of bitterness. He wants to set you free from the fear of death. He wants to set you free from the burden of worry. And anxiety and stress. God doesn’t want you wandering around with all the unhappiness sin causes in your life. He wants to set you free.”

Maybe you’ve never really realized that you need a savior. Maybe some of you here tonight have never even thought about it, or have thought about it and just ignored it, thinking your sin will just go away like a cold or cut on your finger.

I know it doesn’t look like it today, but I was a lifeguard at a summer camp during college. And every lifeguard knows that one of the rules of life guarding is that you cannot save somebody as long as they’re trying to save themselves. When you swim out to somebody who is drowning in the ocean, and they’re just flailing around in panic trying to save themselves, any wise lifeguard knows, just stay back for a few seconds, tread water, and wait until they give up. Because if you try to save them while they’re trying to save themselves, they will pull you under with them. So you just tread water until finally they give up, they relax.

God wants to save you because you too are drowning, slowly. Jesus Christ wants to save you from your hurts. He wants to save you from your habits. He wants to save you from your hang-ups. But you’ve got to quit trying to do it yourself. You’ve got to relax. Just take a deep breath right now. Just relax. You need to let go and let God be God.

The first purpose of Christmas is celebration – “I bring you good news of great joy and it’s for everybody.”

The second purpose this Christmas is salvation – “For unto you is born this day a savior and He’s Christ the Lord.”

Here’s the third purpose of Christmas – Reconciliation.

Here’s the third thing the angel said at the very first Christmas. “Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace good will toward men.” The third announcement was, “Let there be peace on Earth and good will toward men.” That’s called reconciliation.

What is reconciliation? It’s when a broken relationship is restored. When a boyfriend and girlfriend get back together. Or a husband and wife get back together, there’s reconciliation. When a father and son reconcile. They restore harmony, they restore peace between each other.

Where do you need peace in your life this Christmas? That’s what Christmas is all about. Peace on Earth, good will toward men.

In that poll I just talked about, people were also asked “Where do you need peace?” Here’s what some of them said:

Where would you like to see peace?

“Peace? Everywhere I guess. I’d like to see peace everywhere.”

“I’d like to see peace in the broken families.”

“I’d love to see peace in politics.”

“With each other.”

“In my heart.”

“I’d like to see it at home.”

“I’d like to see peace in my life.”

“Peace? Right in this country of ours.”

“Between my parents!”

“Between me and my parents!”

Have you made peace with God? If you haven’t, I am here to tell you that you need to. And soon. Because one day, you will face Him. You need to make peace with God.

How do you do it? You don’t do it by promising to be a good person. You don’t do it by being perfect. You don’t do it by coming to church every Sunday. You can’t do it based on how much money you give to the Church. You don’t do it by never sinning. No- You make peace by faith. Faith in God’s grace. That’s how you get it.

Jesus said it like this – “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.” If you’re really a child of God, if you really know Christ, the Prince of peace, you’re going to be a peacemaker, not a troublemaker, at work. You’re going to be a peacemaker, not a troublemaker, at home or at school. You’re going to build people up, not tear them down. You’re going to compliment more than you criticize. You’re going to love people the way Jesus loves people.

Christmas is the perfect time to show grace to other people. So let me ask you a very frank question: Who do you need to rebuild a relationship with this Christmas? Who do you need to restore a broken relationship with this Christmas? Who do you need to reconcile with, to make peace with? I need to reconcile with my Mother. That’s the spirit of Christmas. Peace on Earth, good will toward men.

You may say, that’s easy for you to say Bob, but I just can’t do it. When families get together at Christmas time, it raises up a whole lot of bad memories a lot of times. And past hurts and a lot of dysfunction and a lot of things that you just haven’t let go of. So you say, “I can’t let go of it. They hurt me too bad. I can’t forgive them.”

And you know what? You’re right. You can’t forgive or reconcile…on your own. That’s why you need Jesus. You don’t have it in you to let it go. But in order to let it go, you’re going to have to let Jesus Christ fill you with His love so you can love other people the way He does.

You know, I absolutely believe without a shadow of a doubt that you’re not here by accident. God knew, before you were born, that you would be here at the RISE tonight. In fact, before God created the universe, God already knew that He was going to create you. And before you were even born, He knew that on December 21st, 2007 in the sanctuary at Christ Community Church in East Taunton, Massachusetts, you would be sitting here. And pointing to this moment so He could get your attention for just a few seconds so He could say this to you: “I’ve seen every hurt in your life. And I never stopped loving you. You matter to Me. I love you, no matter what you have done, or thought, or said, or felt. I love you more than you will ever know. I’ve been watching and waiting for you to love Me back. You’re not here just by accident. But I want you to know Me. I want the rest of your life to be the best of your life. I love you. I’m with you. And I’m for you. I want to save you from your past. If you’ll let Me do that, I will give you peace with Me, peace of Me, and peace with other people. But You’ve got to open the door. You’ve got to receive the Christmas gift.”

The Bible says this, “It makes no difference who you are or where you’re from. If you want God, and you’re ready to do as He says, the door is open.” Let me say it again. I don’t really care what your religious background is. You may be Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Mormon, Buddhist, Baptist, Hindu, or nothing – no religion. But, this is not about religion. God did not send Jesus to give religion. He sent Jesus so you could have a personal relationship with God.

I’m going to pray a prayer right now that I prayed a few years ago on the train home from Boston when I stepped across the line and became a friend of God’s. It’s a pretty simple prayer. As I pray in just a minute – I’m going to ask you to bow your heads – and if these words express the desire in your heart, you just say in your mind, “Me too, God. Me too. I’m in. I’m stepping across the line.” Are you man enough to have the courage to do that? Are you a woman with enough sense to do that? If you are, please see one of the team leaders after the prayer. We can help you move across the line, and close the deal. And accept this free Christmas gift from God.



Let’s Pray:
Dear God, I’m scared. But I want to get to know You. I don’t understand it all. But I thank You that You love me. I thank You that You’re with me even when I didn’t recognize it. I thank You that You’re for me. That You didn’t send Jesus to condemn me, but to save me. I admit I never even realized I needed a savior. But today I want to receive Your Christmas gift of Your Son. I ask You to save me from my past, from my regrets, from my mistakes, from my sins, from my habits and my hurts and my hang ups that mess up my life. Save me from myself. I ask You to save me for Your purpose. I want to know why You put me on this planet. And I want to be what You want me to be. I want to fulfill what You made me to do. I want to learn to love You and to trust You and have a relationship with You. I need peace with You, God. And I need You to put the peace of God in my heart. To take away that stress and to fill me with Your self and Your love. Help me to be a peacemaker. To help others find the peace with You and with each other. In Your name I pray. Amen.

(thanks to Rick Warren for making the skeleton of this message available)

RR4TRW ("Road Rules for the Real World") : How to Deal with STRESS

Dealing With Stress
Bob Hewitt

I like the truth. Who here knows who Paul Pierce is? Anyone know his nickname? That’s right- The Truth. Now don’t get me mistaken for a star basketball player like Paul Pierce- I mean, c’mon- I just about kept up you guys during dodge ball at one of this summer’s cookouts. But I will tell you this- if you ask people where I work about me, those that care to admit they know me will tell you one thing- I tell it REAL and I tell what I hope is the truth. No wishy-washy, politically correct nonsense. The truth. And if you go to my myspace page, you will see that the word “truth” is the focal point.

So, when I am given this great privilege to address you guys, I treat it like it’s my last day on earth- that talking to you is the most important thing I could have ever done with my life. And I can tell you truthfully, that’s how Tim feels when he sings and leads worship, how Derek feels when he gives his message, or when Lauren or Matt meet and talk with anyone of you here. That’s why I like to title my messages “Road Rules 4 the Real World.” I like to talk about real life stuff, and maybe give you something you can use today.

So today I want to be real and talk about a real life issue for all us- about dealing with stress. As I say this, some of you say, “Where were you six months ago when I was in the middle of a heavy second semester and finals and all the stuff going on. But, I could talk about this any week and it would be relevant to where you and I live.

On Sunday I was doing media for Celebration Sunday and was talking to a couple of students who don’t come to RISE very often and told them to come tonight because we were going to talk about stress and what the Bible has to say about stress. School’s just been in two months and they go, “My calendar is already full!

Once a year or so, we as a family like to get away. We are blessed to be able to do this every year or so. So, we take the dog to the kennel, stop the mail for a few days, pack up our bags, and go. Just the three of us for about a week or so. Nothing extravagant or fancy- just a chance to get away, rest, kind of recharge our batteries. No agenda. Just to be together. It is always great, even if it rains on us. It is great…until…until we are driving back from the airport….and slowly back into our driveway…and I know what’s behind the front door when I unlock it- about 400 emails, dozens of phone calls, mail stacked high, issues and problems at work where everybody needed something from me, no matter how stupid it was. All of a sudden after about a week or so of rest, there we are- back at it like we never left- spinning out of control with all of the stuff we though we left behind when we boarded our flight to “just get away.”

But in the middle of running to the computer to check emails, to the mailbox to get that stack of mail, to the kennel to go retrieve our retriever, I also know something in the back of my mind- that is, I also know that God understands our stress because He wired us up and He created this playground for us to live in. He knows how to deal with it best. No me.

Here’s some things that stress does to you and me:

1. Stress causes me to be SELF-CENTERED.

Stress forces us just to think about ourselves. We maybe driving along this road called life nice and smoothly, and boom- something hits us when we’re not looking and it throws us off the road. And all we can think of is this- how do I get back on the road? How do I make myself feel better. How do I help myself. This is the epitome of self-centeredness.

Pastor John puts it pretty simply…all of us, now matter how old we are, no matter how much is going on in our lives, no matter how important we think the things we are doing are…as we go through life, we are either just getting out of a crisis, are in a crisis, or about to enter into a crisis.

2. Another result of stress is you have AVERAGE relationships.

Now, we have been talking a lot at RISE and in the flocks about relationships as we just finished up the 40 Days of Community. But when we are stressed out, your ability to care for other people is diminished. You love less and the result is just average relationships.

3. Stress also causes us to look for quick FIXES.

If I cheat here I can take care of this. If I lie here I can take care of this. If I steal this it will solve this problem. We compromise. We look for quick fixes.

But, the biggest thing that stress does, whether you know it or not, is this….

4. Stress causes us to put God ON HOLD.

Some of you in here will make a very conscious choice to go through four years of high school and never do anything for God. You’ll never serve him in any way. If you’re a Christian (and I realize not everybody in here is) God has gifted you, given you a very specific gift to serve the world and to serve the church. Some of you here may say “I'm too busy! I'm too busy for a small group. I'm too busy to do a ministry. I'm too busy to get involved.” But, if that’s your thinking, if that’s your attitude, then I can assure you of one thing- you’ve missed out on one of the greatest blessings in your life. You put God on hold. Stress causes us to do that.


So here are some truths about stress:

In the Real world I will HAVE STRESS.

I am not going to stand up before you and tell you that you can live a life without stress. That’s a lie. You will have stress. As a high school student, as a teenager today you are the most stressed out generation of any other generation in the history of the world.

Do you want to know why your generation is being hit with more stress than any generation before it? Why it’s hitting you more than it hit me, more than it hit my parents or their parents? It’s because the more progressive a society is, the more stressful that society is. We are a very progressive society- what I mean by that is that the world today is consumed with the thought of consuming- what can I have, and how soon can I have it. You guys have things today that puts my generation to shame. Some of that is good, some of that is bad. Teens today have no idea of life without a cell phone. Teens today have no idea of life without text messaging. Teens today have no idea of life without 24/7 internet access. Many teens today have no idea of life without an unlimited credit card, or their own car. Don’t get me wrong- I am not here to chastise you for having these things. It’s everywhere. But, the more progressive you are, the more you have, the more you need to gratify yourself with stuff, the more stressed you are.

If you don’t believe me, talk to any of the students or folks that have gone on the mission trips to Peru. You really want to know the truth behind this…take some time to talk to John Kinsley when he gets back from the Ukraine working with abandoned teens in that country. You can even talk to Tim about what he saw when he went with Kinsley on a missions trip.

These places are not not very progressive and you’re going to see kickback people. When you go to Peru, you’re also going to see famine. You’re going to see yellow hair because of lack of proper nutrition. You’re going to see blown up, emaciated bodies. But when CCC goes to these places, they will also see these little kids in these villages who don’t have toys. They don’t have Xbox and Guitar Hero 3. They don’t have musical instruments. Children are playing games with rocks and sticks, and teens like you are playing soccer with a tin can, and they couldn’t be happier. No video game console to show the red ring of death- no video games for $59.99. No cell phones that have run out of minutes. No second hand cars that have run out of gas, or life.


So here are some action steps to turn stress into peace…Three things to take out of here today. Things to think about. I encourage you to try to apply these to your life so that you don’t waste your time and I don’t waste my breath. I don’t think any of these action steps are easy, to be honest. Peace is not easy. The world outside those front doors does not want you to have peace, especially the internal peace that faith in Jesus Christ will definitely give you.


TAKING ACTION

1. BECOME who God created you to be.

Think about this. I'm not going to spend much time on this but this is a biggie for most high school students.

In Philippians 4 – Paul wrote this from prison “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Here’s a dude not writing from the Hilton by a pool but writing from a jail saying, “I’ve learned to be content.” Why did he have peace? Because he knew whose he was, and he knew who Jesus was. He was a Christian.

Compromise increases stress. Some of you in here, if you haven’t done it already, have been tempted this year in school to compromise to fit in. “If I lower my standards I can fit in with this group.” Most of us spend our entire life trying to be a carbon copy when God created us to be an original masterpiece. God created you to be an original masterpiece. There’s nobody like you. And you spend all this energy and money and time and stress trying to carbon copy other people. You compromise who you are. You compromise your standard. You compromise your values to fit in. You want less stress? Learn to become what God created you to be. What’s more stressful- being who you really are, or all the energy you need to fake who you are. It’s stressful being a phony.

Some of you in here may say “OK, what happens if I don't compromise? Will God still be in control?” I can assure you that God accepts total responsibility for the life that is totally surrendered to him. You don’t have to worry. God cares more about your life than you do. God cares more about your success than you do. God cares more about your future than you do. God cares more about your happiness than you do. God cares more about your relationships than you do. God cares more about your parents than you do. God cares more about your life than you do. And when you learn (and I use the word “learn” because it doesn’t happen over night) to become the person God created you to be your stress is going to go down.

2. Give up control THROUGH PRAYER.

2 Corinthians 1:9: In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.

So, here are your two options when it comes to something that’s stressing you out.

One, I will handle it myself. I can barely dress myself let alone handle the stressors in life. If I do handle it myself what happens. I Worry which results in panic. I don't think I'm alone on that.

The second option is this: God handles it. I don't worry. I replace worry with prayer. I pray and the result of that is peace.

Philippians 4:6-7 says: Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Do a little homework this week. Trust me in this. Just try to pray every morning – I'm not going to say for an hour, or for 30 minutes but for three minutes – 21 minutes all week. Start your day by praying. Say, “God, here are some of the things that are stressing me out.” Offer them up to God.

Some of you are thinking, I’ve done that. I’ve prayed and nothing happened. I prayed about my parents divorce and they still got divorced. I prayed that I wouldn’t get abused, and I got abused. I prayed that I wouldn’t a bad grade, and I got a bad grade. I prayed that my girlfriend or boyfriend wouldn’t break up with my, and they broke up with me the very next day. So what’s up with that?!

I want you to know that God heard your prayer. God hears prayer about no more war, about helping little kids who can’t walk because they have MS, about helping family members with cancer, about helping friends and family that have lost their jobs, about people in this room who have prayed, please, don’t let me lose my boyfriend or girlfriend. And I know that there are people in this room that are worried right now about friends and family in harm’s way… I think of xxxxxxxxxx, and all that he has been through with his mom’s health, but how his prayer, and the prayer of his Brothers and Sisters in Christ in this room have hopefully helped him maybe just a little in going through what he has to see. I think of xxxxxxxxxxx, and all the stuff he goes through, and how God has answered his prayers for a life of stability, for a life of true happiness, for a life where he can honor God. I think of xxxxxx, and how tough it must be for xxxxx, but how God continues to bless her with boundless grace. Her strength in facing the unknown truly amazes me. But I know one thing- just ask her, and she will tell you that there is no way on earth she could get through her week knowing her fiancé is in a dangerous place without knowing that Jesus was leading her, not the other way around.

But some of us here don’t think of God in that way. They may think of God as some magic genie that you say, “God, this is what I want,” and He says, “Okay. Let me give that to you!”

In my house when I am alone, I sometimes get on my knees and pray. For me it’s a picture of humility. I say, “God, here’s my day and I'm stressed out with all the things I’ve got to do and all these people that want something from me. There’s not enough time. And would you help me with this situation? And here’s a concern I have and here’s a need I have.” Here’s the key to prayer, and this is the most important thing I can tell you tonight-

When I pray, my situation or my circumstances may not change immediately, BUT I CHANGE. Let me repeat that- When I pray, my situation or my circumstances may not change immediately, BUT I CHANGE.

That’s the miracle of prayer in your life. Not that your girlfriend or boyfriend won’t break up with you. Not that a family member who is sick will get better. Not that all of the sudden there is no more war, and those of us who have family and friends in Iraq or Afganistan will magically re-appear next to us, where they belong. No- the power of prayer is that you change. That’s why in the midst of cruising through life, you and I can have peace far more wonderful than the human mind can understand.

Here’s the last action step:

3. You obey GOD’S WAY.

Some of you are saying, “I would expect you to say that!” Maybe you are saying, what else would a church say? But let me tell you something…When you don’t live the way God intended you to live, you will have unnecessary stress.

For example. If I go outside after tonight and I kill someone, God does not want me to live that way. It’s one of the guidelines He set up in the Bible. If I kill that person, I disobey God’s way and what happens? All of a sudden there is stress. I'm stressed out, then the cops come and throw handcuffs on me and I go to jail and I never see my family, ever. That is a consequence.

Not every consequence is that intense. Last Sunday I did the media for Celebration Sunday. All of us who worked for that great worship experience got to Taunton High at around 7am, unloaded all the equipment, set-up the instruments, the sound, the videos stuff, the powerpoint slides. Everything was going along pretty smoothly. Until we had to get the projectors to work for the screens. James can attest to this, cause without him, there would have been no video testimonies, no lyrics, stuff like that. But there we are, five minutes until worship starts, and we have screens that say “Dell.” No powerpoint. No video. Nada. And I’m at the soundboard in the back freaking out, because I know there are five different worship bands on stage, including Pastor John, who are relying on those lyrics, the sermon outline, all that stuff so that people can meet with God for that hour of worship. So, right at 10am, all systems are go- everything appears to be going smoothly. The laptop is running the projectors, and everything is OK. Until a minute later, when someone must have tripped over one of the power lines, and everything goes black. And then a power surge hits my laptop and it goes down. I can tell you that that was one mightly lonely experience…I have like five people staring at me back at the soundboard- telling me hey, there’s no picture on the screen. And I’m sitting there thinking, Oh really, thank you Captain Obvious. And I’m sweating, I’m shaking, and getting really stressed out. But, at that moment, I realized I was not living life in God’s Way, but my way. So, instead of continuing to freak out and give in, I actually stopped while worship continued around me. I actually prayed with the worship going on around me and without the media. And by God’s grace alone, everything came back up. It was a miracle, a mini one, but a miracle at that.

Isaiah 26:3 says “You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

Let’s say Whitty is blind. If I let Whitty just wander around the stage tonight, what’s he going to do? He’s going to trip over the monitors, step on Tim’s guitar and get the tar beat out of him later, fall off stage and hurt himself. But what if all I did was just hang out with Whitty, and say “You’re going in the right direction, and Watch out and Step up.” I'm guiding him through and I am all over him and I am directing him. This type of relationship, this type of guidance is keeping Whitty safe. I am reducing the stress in his life. God says “I want to be that for you. I’ll give you perfect peace if you keep your mind on me.”

It’s like being a train on a track. I am the little engine that could. In fact, I'm the bald engine missing two front teeth that could. I'm on this track. And as I'm cruising through life as the little engine that could and I think to myself, “These tracks are so confining. I wish I could jump the track and go into that river.” But the truth is it’s not confining. It’s leading in the right direction. It’s leading to life in Christ!

You know, I would become a Christian even if I didn’t believe in heaven. I would become a Christian just so I could be forgiven, to have a clear conscious. I do believe there is a heaven and my journey of being a Christian for the past few years is a journey to try to live God’s way. I’ve blown it countless times, including today. I have not always been obedient. But I do know if you want to reduce the stress you start here. You obey God.

Today’s November 9, and Target and Walmart are already reminding us that there are “only” about 49 shopping days until Christmas. I can’t stand that. As a new believer, I can tell you that all the commercials and newspapers inserts about buying all this crap because it is Christmas just really aggravates me. Christmas- the birthday of our Risen Lord- reduced to a sale on nerf guns, bad cologne, and disgusting fruit cakes. But, here’s a chance for you- just a month and a half before we celebrate the birth of Christ- 49 days out…would you close the deal with God? Maybe you have been a seeker for years, maybe a month, maybe just tonight. Close the deal. Right now say “God, I want a relationship with you. Would you forgive me of my sins? Let’s get this guilt over with and start living life the way life was intended to be lived.” So, obey God’s way.

If you’re sitting there and you’ve never said yes before, maybe just say in the best way you know how, “God, I want a relationship with you. I'm not looking for religion. I'm looking for a relationship. As much as I understand that Jesus died on the cross to pay for my sins and to forgive me of my past and to secure a place for me in heaven. I want that. Forgive me, God. I want a relationship with you.” That’s all it takes. He stands at your heart’s door and knocks. He’s not going to barge his way in. You have to invite him in. Let Him in, and never feel the same way again.

Let’s Pray:

Lord, would you help us to realize that peace is not the absence of conflict, it’s not having everything go our way, it’s not having no deadlines or pressures. Peace is found in you. When we are obedient to your way, you give us a peace we can’t even understand. Some of us have seen this peace in other people. We’ve wondered why in the midst of a crisis they’re able to live of life of peace. Maybe now it becomes a little more clear. God, as these students go to school each day and stress and turmoil and crisis and relationships and conflicts enter in, may some of us in here put these action steps to work in our life that we might obey your way, not the world’s way, not our way.

Thanks God that you love us and you don’t want us to live in a stressed out way, that you do have some answers. Thanks for your love - that you love us not for what we look like or how we dress. That you love us because you created each of us as an original masterpiece, and you want us to call you “Father” and be your children. For that we’re thankful. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

RR4TRW ("Road Rules for the Real World") : LIVING IT UP

Tonight I want to talk a little about how all this talk the last couple of weeks about 40 Days of Community, friendships, relationships, and that sort of stuff can help each of every one of you to live life to its fullest.

How do you really live it up? If you and I could spend some one-on-one time together, maybe after church, we’d go to Wendy’s or Dunkin Donuts, and I’d ask you “What do you want to get out of life?” Most people would say, in whatever words they would choose to use, “I want to live it up!”, or some other words, like “I want to have a great life” or “I just want to be liked.” Nobody wakes up in the morning and says, “Boy, I really hope my life sucks today.” You just don’t do that. If you’re breathing and you’re alive, you want to live it up. You want to live life to the fullest. But, alot of times, what the world says is this: the way for you to live it up is if you drink it up, if you party it up, if you smoke it up, if you sex it up, if you buy it up. People try to do all that stuff, and what happens is, after they’ve done it all, they feel a little empty- maybe a lot empty. That wasn’t the answer to living it up…no, I’m here to tell you tonight that there is a key I want to give you about living a maximum life, and it is all about what the flocks have been reading about this past week – growing together and connecting into deep relationships.

What am I saying? What I am saying is that if you want to live it up, you’ve got to connect in deep relationships. I’m not talking about a friendship- sure, a friendship is a relationship, but often not a very deep one. In fact, most of our friendships are really like the relationships Derek talked about when CCC first started the 40 Days of Community a few weeks ago- that is, if you look closely and are honest with yourself, most of our “friendships” are pretty superficial- which is a five dollar word for shallow, phony, not real. Don’t get me wrong- I don’t want you to leave here tonight and tell all your friends you don’t want to be their friend anymore and accuse them of being phony or shallow. That’s not the point.

But, a friendship is when you put yourself at the center. You say, “I don’t want to be lonely this Friday night, so I need a friend.” “I don’t want to walk to school by myself, so I need a friend.” It’s more “I”- centered. It’s when yourself is at the center – that’s a friendship. Anybody can do that- ever noticed just how easy it is to put yourself first, front and center?

But there is a deeper level of friendship. At some point, maybe Christ is the common bond between the friends. Johnny has a relationship with Christ, and his friend Tommy also has a relationship with Christ- now, Johnny and Tommy have a relationship that’s deeper than a friendship- they have a relationship called “fellowship.”

Fellowship is another word you have probably heard thrown around a lot…Fellowship is a little churchy, Bible word. It means that I might love another person as I love myself, a deeper, I-want-to-care-for-you friendship. What I’m suggesting, if you really want to live it up in life, is that you’ve got to connect with at least a couple of other people at a deeper level.

Now, you may be asking Why? Is that a big deal? Why is a deep, connecting relationship a big deal? I have tons of friends and people I know at school, at work, even here at church. But I want to ask you- could you honestly rely on them if you had a problem, and more importantly, could they rely on you if they had a problem? Would you really listen to them with a soft, caring heart, or would you be a stone-faced sounding board, quickly bored with their problem, and looking for someone to come by, or for your cell phone to ring so you could get out of the discussion?

The first reason you need this deeper, meaning relationship is that many of us in here are lonely. We won’t admit it to the people that are sitting to your left or to your right. And it doesn’t matter if you are a girl or a guy. We disguise it under the appearance of being cool, like Derek said last week. But many of us in here are lonely. It’s not something that’s the first thing out of your mouth – “By the way Whitty, I’m lonely!” We usually don’t do that. But we all have the emptiness. There are some of you in here, no matter how cool you look, how cool you talk, how cool the stuff you have- you’re screaming out, “Could somebody just like me for who I am? Do I have to be in ‘this’ clique to be liked? Do I have to smoke ‘this’ to be liked? Do I have to drink alcohol to be liked? Do I have to have pre-marital sex to be liked? Do I have to party to be liked? Do I have to have a boyfriend or girlfriend to be liked? Good God Can’t you just like me for who I am?!”

Let me read you a letter a 16-year-old girl recently write to her youth pastor in a town in the mid west: She writes, “I am 16. I spend time at both my mom and my dad’s house. I feel like I’m an inconvenience to both of them. At my mom’s house, I don’t have a room. My mom isn’t there for me when I need her because she always has something more important to do. At least that’s how it feels to me. I’m having trouble with my so-called ‘friends.’ Everyone seems so fake. There’s no depth in our conversation. It’s all about gossip, tearing each other and others down, and lies. It’s hard to know who true my friends are. I used to think I wanted popularity. Now I’ve got it, and it’s not what I want. What I really want is one friend – just one friend, who is real, accepting, and loving. And if this isn’t possible, I’m not sure my life is worth living.”

This may or may not describe you. My guess is that if you re-read this letter, many of you could have easily wrote it. And that’s why my claim is that if you don’t have a deep, connecting friendship, you will have this hollowness or emptiness or loneliness about you. On the flip side, when you do have some vibrant friendships, some deep friendships, some friendships that break the surface level, that are not fake like that girl wrote in her letter, or superficial like Derek talked about a few weeks ago, you will feel full in your soul. You’ll live life differently. You’ll actually live it up. It’s one of the key ingredients. What’s gets to me, in a world of cell phones, wireless communication, instant messengers, myspace pages, pagers, video phones, is that we have all this technology to help us connect, and yet we’re lonelier than we’ve ever been. Our cell phones are connected. Our Comcast internet access is connected. Then why do I feel so disconnected?! And people, let me clue you in on a little secret- it’s not just one or all of you at the RISE tonight that may feel disconnected…no, I confess in front of all you, that often, I feel disconnected. So you are not alone. Feeling lonely or disconnected is not a kid thing, not a student thing, not a youth thing. It’s a human thing. And God knew this would be a problem from the beginning of time, from the Garden of Eden, when he said in Genesis 1:18- “It is not good for the man to be alone, I will make him a helper who is right for him.” And, with God’s grace, we were never intended to be alone again- we were formed to be in a deep, meaningful relationship.

But, the more important reason why deep, meaningful relationships are important is because God created us to be in relationships. Maybe some of you don’t believe this. You believe that you evolved from some ooze millions and millions of years ago. Okay. If that’s the case, then there’s really no reason for connecting in relationships, there’s no reason for the flocks, and there is no reason for the RISE.

The Bible says He created us in His image and we can have a personal relationship with Him, and because of that, we can have relationships with one another. Here’s a pretty cool way to think about it- people are most happy when they have this vertical relationship with God and a horizontal, deep, connecting relationship with other people, especially other beleivers. It’s like the cross- a vertical relationship with God, and a horizontal deep connecting relationship with others (make sign of cross).

Sometimes when I say that, that Our God is a personal God, some of you get a little confused. And let me tell you, when I say that to people in my family from Delaware, or to people at work, you would think I just landed from Mars! A personal God? You mean like God’s a little genie in a lamp, and I just rub it, and He does whatever I want? Or God is a divine puppet that I can control, a cosmic bellhop. You ring a bell, and He’ll come running. No, that’s not our God. Our God isn’t subject to your imagination.

When I say He’s a personal God, what I mean by that is He’s not IMpersonal. He’s not a lifeless energy force that just set the world spinning, like some people believe, and then He took off. God is very relational. He created you to have a relationship with Him and with other people.

What’s amazing is people function better, people feel better, food tastes better, the air smells fresher, all when we have deep, connecting relationships. There’s something about how God has wired us that we do better with other people. We are indeed better together.

I haven’t done all the research on this so excuse me if I sound a little off on this. But I recently heard about something a little bizarre. It’s called Kangaroo Therapy. Kangaroo Therapy is this new type of relational therapy. When babies are born after a full 9-month pregnancy, the average baby is somewhere between seven and nine pounds. But, there’s another type of baby that is born early. They call it a premature baby. Maybe you’ve heard of “preemies.” Some of you are pretty familiar with this- you may have been a preemie, had one in your family, or a friend’s family. Preemies are born anywhere from 1.5 – 2 pounds to 4 or 5 pounds. They’re just born early, and they’re very, very small. This baby can’t go home with the parents so they are put it in a little incubator. When it’s in the incubator, it will gain about an ounce a day. So if my math is right, it’ll take about sixteen days for it to gain a pound.

What they’re finding with Kangaroo Therapy is that, if the parents come in and hold the baby up against themselves like a baby is held by a Kangaroo parent, the baby can gain up to ten ounces a day.

Is there a connection here? You bet there is. In isolation, in that incubator, the preemie baby doesn’t grow as much. In relationship or in connection to another person, the baby flourishes and grows. The reason I tell you this is it’s a great picture of how God has wired us and designed us. We work best when we’re connected in a deep, meaningful relationship to somebody else, even if it’s a baby that cannot speak.

As a matter of fact, there is something equally as fascinating- if you take Christianity all the way back to its roots, what do you find? Relationships.

Here’s a snapshot: Jesus, two thousand years ago, walked the earth – God in flesh. He lived a perfect life to die for our sins. The last three years of His life, from years 30 – 33, he began what is known as His public ministry, where He began to teach about God. Everything you need to know about God isn’t about these rules and regulations that you must follow about what you must wear and must eat, and how or when to pray, or how much money you should give the church. It’s about a relationship with God.

One of His followers was named Peter. Sometimes, when I read the life of Peter, it describes me. His spiritual journey has all kinds of ups and downs. He’s loud, obnoxious, and impulsive. He got a little wild one time when they came to arrest Jesus, and he pulls out his sword and goes to strike the dude and cuts off his ear. Jesus said, “Whoa. Time out. That’s not what we’re about.” But after Jesus was crucified on the cross and arose from the dead and ascended to heaven, the beginning of Christianity started with just these believers in Jesus. I don’t know how many, but not a lot.

In Acts 2:38, Peter gives a message: ’Each of you must turn from your sins and turn to God and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.’ Then those people who accepted what Peter said were baptized. About three thousand people were added to the number of believers that day.”

If you read the book of Acts, that’s where it started. One message, people believed, and they were added to the church.

In the beginning of the church, notice what they did. “They joined with other believers then devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, sharing in the Lord’s supper and in prayer…and all the believers met together constantly and shared everything they had. They sold their possessions and shared the proceeds with those in need.”

“They were joined with those of like mind.” It wasn’t people who dressed like them, or came from the same type of homes. It was people who were like-minded in the faith. They believed that Jesus Christ was God in the flesh, the Son of God who died on the cross for the payment of our sins. They were joined with like-minded people.

They were committed to grow and learn. They said, “We’re going to learn more about this God that loves us and wants a relationship with us.” They were passionate about meeting needs. at’s the early church. That’s the roots of Christianity. They were joined together, they grew and learned, and they met needs. Some of us wouldn’t give our friends five bucks. But these guys sold everything they had to make sure people were taken care of. That’s more than a casual friendship- that’s the love Christ wants us to show each other in a true fellowship.

You might say, “So what?” Well, let me show you the results. Peter continues by saying “The believers met together in the Temple every day. They ate together in their homes, happy to share their food with joyful hearts. They praised God and were liked by all the people. Every day the Lord added those who were being saved to the group of believers.”

They praised God; they enjoyed relationships with each other. And on a daily basis, people were being saved. Why were people being saved? Because they were looking around and saying, “If this is Christianity, I want in. If this is how you treat each other, I want a part of it. If I can have a relationship with a personal God, I want in!”

So what I’m saying to you is, if you want to live it up, if you want to live life to its fullest, pursue those deep, meaningful, connecting relationships. Those are the relationships that changed the world 2 thousand years ago, and they will change your world as well.

So how do you do this? How can I have something better than a superficial or shallow friendship with people who are probably uninterested in me. Let me give you some action steps and some things to think about.

1. Recognizing your role in the body. No, not your body, but The body of Christ. What does that mean? Romans 12:5 says “We are all parts of His one body, and each of us has different work to do. Since we’re all one body in Christ, we belong to each other. And each of us needs all the others.” [Needs each other- not needs myself- needs each OTHER].

Bob Hewitt has needs. Derek Jones has needs. Lauren Ferris has needs. Tim Conrad has needs. Firdaus Jones has needs. Matt Medeiros has needs. Kyle Whitty has needs. Mark Grinham has needs……..And those needs simply can’t be met by going to the ATM, getting some cash, and buying it- no, those needs are met by the fact that we belong to other people like-minded in the faith. I have needs that I belong to a body.

So what is your role? Your role is to belong to the body of Christ. When you are not connected to another person in the body of Christ, you’re not complete. You’re not fully alive.

Ephesians 4 says, “Under God’s direction, the whole body is fitted together perfectly. Each part does its own special work and helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.”

So the first step is to burn the following thought in your mind and never forget it until the day you die: “I belong to the body of Christ.”

Step 2 - Take a step of faith to get connected.

I already suggested that each of us is lonely, but God created us to be in relationship. You’ve already done this to a degree. Just the fact that you walked into this sanctuary, maybe for your first time, it took a step of faith. A couple of weeks ago at Reality Check:Desperation, we had about 300 high school students come into this very sanctuary. It took faith for a lot of them to enter those doors, even if they only came for a chance to win an XBox. Some of you here- whether you have been coming for a long time or this is your first time at RISE, were invited by a friend: “Church? Dude! No way!” But, Hallelujah you get here, and it doesn’t feel like church. We have hung some murals on the wall, have some pretty cool lighting, a great youth band, not the typical church setting. And you may be saying, “Where’s the steeple? I don’t get it.” But you took a step of faith to come in here.

Who here went to Reality Check:Desperation? You know looking back at that great event, I am pretty sure there were at least 600 students from the surrounding area that knew that the event was taking place. Now, of the 300 or so students that went to Reality Check, there were probably another 300 that did not come because they didn’t have that faith. Even coming to an event like Reality Check may have been too scary for them. I understand that. I really do. But you have already taken that step of faith to be here tonight. I want to say to you, “One more step! Take that step to get connected.” Over the past few weeks we have been encouraging each of every one of you to sign up for a flock. And it’s never too late to join a flock, because it’s never, ever too late to establish a deep, meaningful relationship that you may enjoy for the rest of your life. I know first-hand. Before I came to RISE last September just to help out with powerpoint, I never really knew what a true, meaningful relationship was with someone outside of my marriage. And let me tell you, my marriage means everything to me- I have been married for 21 years, and my wife is still my best friend and supporter. But since coming to RISE last fall, I now have some true, meaningful relationships with others. I look at Derek and Firdaus, Matt, Lauren, and Tim, and I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that they mean the world to me. I don’t see them as often as I would like, because we all have this life and work stuff all week. And I am not scared to tell them publicly that I love them, and would do anything I could for them. So, Derek, Firdaus, Matt, Lauren, Tim- I love you, and would do anything I could for you. I say the same thing to the guys in my flock, and I am not bashful or embarrassed to say it- Mark, Abe, Zach, Billy, Iverson- I love you guys, and would do anything I could for you.
Here’s a HUGE challenge- everyone stand up - could anyone of you here tonight say the same thing, honestly and with a straight face, to someone here who means to you what the guys in my flock or the youth leaders mean to me, that you love them? How many- raise your hands! Why wait? I challenge you to do this now! (okay, thanks, sit for just a few more minutes)

Saying I lover you or being part of a flock is real risky- I understand that. Especially for guys. Guys, I understand. We THINK we’ve got to be a little cooler. And the thought of being in a small group and talking about life issues and some hurts and needs, that’s a little scary, and on the surface, does not sound cool at all. And talking about loving each other- forget about it, right?

You know, this is one of the questions I have for God when we get to heaven – how He wired males and females differently. Remember last year when sometimes we would have small groups, and sometimes the small groups were broken into guy groups and girl groups. For the guy groups, we would get through the questions in about 7 minutes, and then we’re like “What else is there to talk about? So we talk about the usual stuff- sports, video games, cars, whatever. But Girls? C’mon now- they could come out of a small group like an hour later, and they are crying and telling each other “You’re my best friend! I love you. I know I just met you tonight!” Please don’t get me wrong- I’m not making fun of that. It’s just that as a guy, it’s hard to understand. So, another life lesson I need when I get to heaven about how we’re wired.

You’ve already taken a little bit of risk to come here, to come to a church, to come to a youth group on a Friday night when you could be somewhere else making some pretty dumb life choices, and hear about how much God loves you. That took risk. Risk of being outcast by your friends. Risk of being outcast by your family. Now I’m suggesting to you, if you really want to live it up, take a risk to be involved in a flock, to get connected in some deep, meaningful relationships.

While RISE calls these permanent small groups flocks, I did a little research. Like Derek said, there aren’t many Christian youth ministries that do anything like flocks- but there are a couple that may refer to them as something different- like small groups or cells. But I found an article about a similar church in California that has a flock-like system. This article was about the testimony of a 15 year-old girl named Brianna where God has used a small group of girlfriends to help her through some difficult times of life. And I’m going to have Lauren read what Briana told her youth group:


Briana: I’m going to tell you a little bit of how God has changed my life over the past fifteen years and all about the people God has brought into my life. Growing up was very hard for me. When I was young, my parents went through a very tough divorce. My dad was a drug addict who was never really around. He was in and out of recovery homes and even jail. He used all of our family’s money for drugs, causing the rest of my family to struggle to make house payments and even cover basic food expenses. I was so certain I was the only one like me, that no one else could relate to me or my situation. Feeling so alone, I kept all the pain bottled up inside.

The year of and the years that followed my parent’s divorce were the worst years of my life. I was lost and alone. With nowhere to turn, I found the one person who was always with me, hour after hour, day after day, year after year. This person was Jesus Christ. This is the first time in my life that I began to understand what a relationship with God was all about. I had always said I was a Christian but never really understood what that meant. And I definitely didn’t understand how God was always with me. In time, my family was able to restore trust with my father and recover the money that was lost to my dad’s drug addiction. Times were difficult, but together with God, we were able to make it.

Even though the struggle was pretty much over, the pain and hurt inside my heart wasn’t gone. In the meantime, my family started this local church. I was so aching for a friend and searching for the right path, the life that I wanted to live. I rededicated my life to Christ at summer camp in 7th grade. Immediately, I knew that I had found what I was missing. Jesus had been there all along. Through every moment of my pain, He was waiting for me to ask Him for help and for guidance. In rededicating my life to Jesus, it became clear that God had intended for me to make the life-long friendships that I have been looking for. The aching in my heart for connecting with others was slowly being dealt with. I found a great group of girls in my small group, especially my best friend, Brittany. I realized I could tell her anything. I found the life I wanted to live, and I wanted to live it with Jesus.

I guess I never really knew how great friendships could be. All three of my best friends go to my church. Brittany, Nicki, and Heather all play a special part in my life. We learn more and more from each other each day. I know I could trust them with anything and everything. With them, I finally felt free to talk about my problems and pain from the hurtful years with my dad. I now know that the friendships I have were put in my life for a reason. For this, I will always be grateful. There was a time where I tried to hide my secret pain. I was alone and empty. I needed the people in my life that cared about me. Now I have found the quality friendships I have been looking for. I don’t ever want to walk alone again.

I look back on all those hard, horrible situations, but all I can do is think positive about it all. I now know that I won’t make the same decisions my dad did with drugs because I saw how much it hurt me and what it did to him, his kids, his family, and his friend’s life. If all the stuff wouldn’t have happened, I wouldn’t have the friends I have now, and I wouldn’t be here speaking to you. Whenever I’m in a problem or hard situation, there’s a verse Jeremiah 29:11: “I say this because I know what I am planning for you," says the Lord. "I have good plans for you, not plans to hurt you. I will give you hope and a good future.” I remember that God has a perfect plan for each and every one of us. He has a reason for everything He does, and His plans are going to help us, prosper us. They won’t harm us.

I’m sure some of you out there are having a hard time with something, struggling with something. You may think that you’re the different one or that you have no one to turn to. Make the church you are sitting in right now your home like I did at my youth group. A relationship with Jesus will change your life for the best. We can’t do it alone. We need each other to help us do life. Scripture says, “I want us to help each other with the faith we have. Your faith will help me, and my faith will help you.” Through connecting with other people who care about me, God has changed my life in millions of ways, and I know He can change yours, too.
















You know, I talk pretty loosely about risks all the time, but it took a lot of guts for Briana to share her story about how God works in the midst of all her pain with her youth group. It also takes a step of faith to get connected. I encourage you to do that.

Step 3 - Enjoy the benefits of belonging to others who care about you.

Once you realize you’re all in the body of Christ, you can take a risk to get connected. What are the benefits of belonging? It’s that you don’t have to go through life alone ever again. Let me repeat that. It means that you don’t have to worry about going through life alone again.
D Jones- do I ever have to worry about going through life alone again? Can I call you when I succeed or fail, can I call you when I hurt, or when something great happens? Mark, Abe, Zach, Billy, Iverson- you have the Revolution Man flock- if you make the effort to make it work, you will never ever have to face life’s problems alone again. That’s what flocks are about. The benefit of belonging is to know that, when you get in a time of hurt or trouble, people aren’t going to turn on you. If you live your life the world’s way, I guarantee you this. When you get in trouble, the world’s going to turn on you.

You can just blow off what I am saying, and just think what does Bob or any of these team leaders know about my life, and that’s fine. But just watch. When you live your life the world’s way and you get in trouble, those so-called friends will turn on you like a dime and will be nowhere to be found. The benefit of belonging and being a part of the body of Christ is the church isn’t going to turn on you. Those deep, meaningful friendships you’ve built centered around Jesus Christ, they won’t turn on you. They’ll be there for you. Some days it may not seem that way. Some days our friends from the body of Christ may seem like they don’t love you anymore. It’s not always all lollipops, rainbows, and good times. I can tell you that Derek and I do not always see eye to eye on everything. Does that mean I don’t love Derek anymore. No. It’s just the opposite. It means I love him more, because the backbone of our relationship is not superficial- it’s real.

I read something on Discoverychannel.com. I’m not totally into animals, not a veternologist – a veterinarian and zoologist merged together – I’m not one of those. But as I started poking around on this website, I read something fascinating. The wildebeest is this big, ugly nasty-looking animal. They look like they’re really strong. The females, when they crank out a wildebaby, when they give birth, what they do is try to get it up and walking immediately. But, the survival of the wildebeest is going down because of a certain animal – the hyena. The hyena comes around – one or two or three will circle a wildebeest and distract the mother and then eat the baby.

What’s fascinating about this is, just a few feet away, are hundreds, sometimes thousands, of wildebeests that could go there and help out that baby wildbeeste. But they don’t. Two or three hyenas will surround one of those Wildebeestes and take it on and eat their baby while all these other wildebeests are out doing their own thing. If one wildebeest would just go, “Hey, friends! Come over here. Let’s circle the hyenas and tromp on them!” But what are they doing? They’re out there kind of living their own life. Doing their own thing. Making THEMselves feel good. No Flocks. No Small Groups. No Youth Ministry. No deep, meaningful relationships. Just each wildbeeste looking out for themselves. Sounds a lot like what goes on outside the doors of this sanctuary every day. Maybe some of you feel isolated, lonely, defenseless, like that baby wildbeeste. But if you do, I have some terrific news for you. What that baby wildbeeste had to go through does not happen in the body of Christ, and hopefully the RISE and the flocks. When you’re in trouble, you’re not going to be alone. You enjoy the benefits of being deeply connected with other people because fellowship is not just “do you want to hang out at the mall?” – it’s “I love you as much as you love me.” It’s not surface. It’s not shallow. It’s not phony. It’s real, and it’s one of the keys to living it up.

The Bible says in Romans 1:12, “I’m eager to encourage you in your faith, but I always want to be encouraged by yours. In this way, each of us will be a blessing to one another.”

I love that Briana used that in her testimony. You help my faith; I help yours. That’s what the body of Christ does; we connect in deep and meaningful relationships.

Romans 12:16 says, “Live in harmony with each other. Don’t try to act important.” Don’t try to act important like you don’t need anybody. Don’t try to act important like you can live life on your own. You can’t. “Enjoy the company of ordinary people.” That’s one of the many things I love about this church, and especially about RISE.
If you want to live at the superficial level where you wonder who your friends really are, that’s your choice. If you want to live it up, live life to its fullest, take a risk to take it to the next level and have some deep, meaningful relationships. That’s one of the keys to living life to its fullest.

I thank you for giving me the time to talk about this tonight, and I hope it gives you something to think about. I hope that you would pray about it this week and come back next week to take the challenge and talk to Derek about joining a flock. Why go through life alone when God provides a new community to be a part of? Don’t miss this life-changing opportunity to journey with significant others. It all goes back to our creed from Matthew 7:7-8: “Ask, and God will give it to you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will open for you.” That’s it- right there- just knock, and see what happens when the door is opened for you.

Let’s Prayer:
God, thanks that You are personal and You want a relationship with each one of us and You give us the power and the depth to have relationships with others. God, give us the courage, those of us in here that are scared to get connected, to take that step. Help us to recognize our role in the body, that we need each other, and we have a role. Thank You that You allow us to be a part of other people’s lives to make their lives better and our life better. God, we pray that we might be different people as we leave here tonight. We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

What's Love Got To Do With It?

Ever noticed have we throw the word "Love" around these days? Most of the world is clueless as to what real love is, and really confuses the word with "lust." As Christians, we know that love does not equal lust.

I like the way Rick Warren (from Purpose Driven Life fame) puts it in his workbook titled "Better Together" for the 40 Days of Community. Warren states that "Real love is placing the needs of others before your own. It is making your problem, my problem. It is giving to another without any guarantee of getting anything back. It is giving others what they need, not what they deserve. Although love can create intense feelings, love is not a feeling. It is a choice, an action, a way of behaving, a commitment. Love is sacrificing for others."

NO FEAR LIVING

"NO FEAR LIVING"
Bob Hewitt
July 13, 2007


There was a famous newspaper advice columnist named Ann Landers. People would write her letters every week about all kinds of stuff, like how do you set the table, and what do you do when you have conflict in your family- All kinds of things. She received over 10,000 letters a week. When she was asked, "What is the most common problem that you're asked to deal with?" she said, "Without a doubt it's fear."

Remember a couple of weeks ago when we were all at the Gailey's for the bonfire, and Derek asked us to throw something into the fire that keeps you from living life to its fullest? Some people brought stuff that kept them from God, but most of us wrote something that kept us from a relationship with Jesus on a piece of paper and threw it in the fire and when everyone had finished throwing their stuff or papers in the fire, some of you had to courage to testify what you had written down, or why you had thrown stuff into the fire. Did you realize that a majority of the things that were written down or talked about were fears – fear of failure, fear of rejection, fear of being found out, fear of people knowing who I really am and yet still liking me. Or maybe it was fear of standing in front off that fire and sharing yourself with others, and fearing what people would think about you, or say about you, or gossip about you.

Fear is a big part of our lives. No- check that- fear is a huge part of out lives. I saw a TV news report recently that said that twenty years ago, elementary school age kids were surveyed and asked, "What are your top five fears?" Twenty years ago kids said, "Animals, dark rooms, strangers, high places, and loud noises." Twenty years later today's elementary age kids are afraid their parents will get divorced, that they will see their parents fighting or hitting each other, they they will be hit by their parents, nuclear war, terrorism, getting cancer, pollution and getting molested or raped, or hooked on and killed by drugs. That's a big change in fears in twenty years!

As we talk about fear there may be some of you in here that are the tough guy or tough girl type. You know the type of person I'm talking about- all puffed up and say "I'm not afraid of nothing!" If you are one of those people, let me tell you what you are afraid of. You're afraid of reality if you're saying that to yourself. The truth is every one of us in here has fears about something. You call them whatever you want. You can call it worry, you can call it tension, you can call it being stressed out or being uptight. But it's all about fears.

That's why today I want to talk about the good news about overcoming fear- and that good news comes right from this book, and it will let each of you live a life of "No Fear Living" - if you just believe.

The Bible has a lot to say about fear. There's more in the Bible about fear than there is about heaven. There's more in the Bible about fear than there is about hell. The first words of Jesus when He resurrected and appeared to his friends were "Do not be afraid."

All throughout the Bible we are told that we are not to live in fear. Psalm 34 says "I prayed to the Lord and He answered me. He freed me from all my fears." The good news is that God says you can break free from your fear.

Imagine if I could point a video camera right at any one of you here, and your picture would go up on the screen, and without me asking you or you having a chance to hide your fears, all of your fears would be listed under your name like the stats under a players name on ESPN. So those of you who think you're tough people, that you have no fears- you have fears. What are they? Maybe the fear is going to church. Maybe it's a fear of coming tonight to RISE, or maybe it's a fear that you will feel on the spot in the small groups. Maybe the fear is that somebody's going to think you're religious. Maybe your fear is that your parents are going through a tough time and you fear they're getting a divorce. Maybe you fear the relationship that you're in is not going to last. Maybe you have fears about your future. Maybe you have fears about losing a friend that's headed in the wrong direction. Maybe some of you have fears about being caught for something you did.

But you are not alone – everyone of us has fears. I am just like you- I have a lot of fears- some stupid- some not. Hey, when Derek asked me to speak tonight, I was fearful of not being ready, or tripping over my words, fearful of not making sense. I am still fearful right now. I was fearful at the campfire, and I was one of the people who feared what people would think of me if I told them what I wrote down. So fear is not a kid thing, is not a teen thing, and is not an adult thing. It's a human thing that has been with us since Adam told God in the Garden of Eden- "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."

Every one of us, no matter how old you are, how young you are, how tough you are, how popular you are, how insecure you are, have fears. Some people even say that fear is good- that it keeps you alert and motivated. What garbage! If fear were so good for you, we would embrace it, enjoy it, look for more of it. But one of the few things I know since becoming a born-again Christian a few years ago and reading the bible is that God doesn't want us to live with fear, and He gives us a cure for fear.



On page 331 of the pew bibles is the story of Joshua- one of Moses' servants:

Joshua 1:1-9:
"After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Great Sea on the west. No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.
"Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

In that passage alone, God encourages us to be strong and courageous three times, and not to be scared discouraged one time. I think He was on to something that He knew would shadow man forever- fear.

So What Does Fear Do?

FEAR slows down your POTENTIAL

Some of you in here, you're not living life to its fullest because of some fears that limit you. It causes you to miss great opportunities. When we become afraid, it keeps us from doing things in our lives and it feels like we're wearing cement shoes. Some of you in here have had dreams of doing stuff and you've said, "I'm going to do that before I graduate high school. Now you're going into your senior year and your fears have trapped you. Sometimes I look at some of you and go, "You can do so much greatness in your life if you weren't afraid." If you weren't afraid of failure, afraid of rejection or whatever it is. I look in your lives and see this incredible road that you could go down but you're surrounded by these false dragons of fears that line the road.

Look at some of our Myspace pages- we spend all this time trying to look good on the outside through cool pages and cool music and cool pictures and cool messages- but on the inside we have these fears and we're living our life in a web of lies that hides who we really are, and limits our potential and keeps us from doing what God wants us to do. It acts like a brake on our lives.

FEAR hurts RELATIONSHIPS

I mentioned that Fear was in the first book of the bible- just look at Genesis Chapter 3- Adam and Eve were formed in the perfection of the Garden of Eden. One day God was looking for Adam and Eve, and you know what Adam said to God? He said "I was afraid and I hid from you." In relationships that's what we do. We hide. Fear causes us to cover up. Fear causes us to put on masks. Fear causes us to pretend that we're somebody that we're not. Fear causes us to lie. And the greatest block in any relationship, in taking that relationship to the next level, is fear.

The reason we're afraid is we say this, "Why should I tell you who I really am because if I tell you who I really am, what if you don't like me? And if you don't like me for who I really am- that's all I've got."

Some of you are totally depressed in your life right now because you wear this mask. On the inside you're one person but on the outside you try to give off this persona that you're somebody else and it limits and it scars relationships.


FEAR stops HAPPINESS.

Fear is like a prison, and I don't need to have an experience in prison to know that prison is not a good place to be. Prison is a bad place, with little rooms to confine your movement. And that's what life is like when you live with fear. It's like this emotional prison. Think about this, those of you who maybe know a little bit about the Bible - Jesus said, "I'm going to be unjustly crucified on a cross. I'm going to be killed. Three days later I'm going to rise from the dead." He told his followers that. And as soon as He was killed on the cross his followers went and hid. They were afraid. They locked themselves up in their own prisons. But when you open up your life and you let Jesus come in and you have a relationship with him, then He can conquer some of those fears and the party can begin, the celebration of life can begin. That's how God wants us to live. Life to its fullest- Jesus said, "I didn't come to steal, kill and destroy. I came that you might have life." - life without those things that cause fear that we threw into the fire at the Gailey's.

I read something this week about fear that was pretty interesting- When you and I were babies, when we were born, we only had two fears. One was the fear of falling and the other was the fear of loud noises. That's it- just two fears (look how many we have now!) Watch the next time you're around a baby. Make a loud noise. You'll see what they do. They can be drooling, their heads bobbing – but you make a loud noise and their eyes pop out of their sockets- it's a fear of loud noises.

But every other fear we've learned- and I think we can all agree that we have more than the fear of falling or loud noises. And the good news about that is that if you've learned a fear, you can unlearn that fear. That's the good news. What I want to do is give you four things to think about as you leave here. I want to give you some things to set you on the right journey. To set you on a journey that maybe you could begin to conquer some of these fears, starting now, starting tonight. Not on your own, because you can't do it on your own. If you could have, you would have. But with God's help. And it spells the word FEAR, and we'll put it up on the web site so you can look at it whenever you need it:


F – FIND TRUTH

A lot of what you learned in life simply wasn't true. What you have learned in life, maybe we've learned from our parents or teachers or friends or we picked up in a movie or song or tv show or something like that, and it's simply not true. And because it's not true and you and I have believed it, it has led to some fears.

The biggest life lesson we have learned that is bull is that Love equals sex. You've seen it on TV, on the internet, in movies- maybe you've heard it from people that if you really love somebody you've got to have sex with them. That's just not true. And because that's not true but we believe it's true, it's created all these fears inside of us. Fear of being accepted. What happens if the person dumps me? Or what if I'm not sure I know what I'm doing? All these fears because of something that's untrue.

How about another one- Money is power. You believe that if you have money you have power and happiness. That is so not true. But because we believe that money equals power and happiness, we look around and we fear our future. Will I get the right job, so I get lots of money? What if my SATs aren't good enough, and I can't get into a good college so I can make a lot of money? Should I go to college? Maybe I end up doing something I really don't like to do because my parents say I need to have money because money's power and leads to happiness and the good life. All that stuff. Many of us we live with this fear that just isn't true. How many of you know John Doe? Does he seem to be a happy guy? I think he is. And I can tell you he is happy because he has Jesus in his heart, not money in his wallet!

Jesus said, "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." There's that word "free" again. Fear is like a prison and you need to be set free. Some of these beliefs need to be challenged. What do we challenge them with? We challenge them with God's truth- the Bible. When you know the truth, it will set you free. Fear always distorts our perceptions, but the Bible is like putting on a pair of glasses and being able to see again!

Fear distorts everything, and makes the movies we play in our heads repeat over and over and over again with lies and garbage. Find truth.

Get this, get this-

-Forty percent of all fears are about the future and they never happen.
-Thirty percent of all the fears that you have are about the past and they can't be changed anyway.
–Twelve percent are needless fears about your health – like spiders infesting your brain and things like that.
–Ten percent are petty fears that aren't worth worrying about. What's a petty fear? It's like when your mom says change your underwear because you might get in a car accident. How those two go together I'm not exactly sure.
-That leaves only eight percent of your fears are legitimate fears and those can be dealt with by taking appropriate steps of action.

Remember as a little kid, you're lying in bed and all of a sudden you see something move on the wall. And no matter what your parents have said about the boogey man you feel like the boogey man is in your room because you just saw something move, and you hear those stupid creaking noises and you know in the back of your mind that it's just the house settling or the wind hitting the house or something stupid like that. But no. And now you look in your closet. Your closet is open a little bit and all of a sudden your clothes are beginning to take shape and you want to go so badly to turn on the light but you're scared to set your foot on the floor because you know there's somebody's under your bed and going to grab your foot and suck you in under the bed into hell dungeon. So you're lying on the bed, and you're so scared- It's a horrible experience.

Then you've decide to get up and jump for the light switch…and you flip on the light switch and all of a sudden the lights are on and the monsters go away. You just turned on the truth.

What I'm suggesting is that some of you in here need to turn on the truth. When you live in the light of God's truth it changes many of the things that you fear. I used to fear death. I used to be afraid to die until I realized what God's light said, and that actually death has no sting for those who are Christians. So I keep my eyes on the prize and know that death will mean eternity with God. When you learn the truth it takes away your fears. So find truth.

E – EXPERIENCE and EXPRESS God's love

You know what your deepest need is right now? It's not to have a snack in the back. It's not to get out of here. It's not to have a conversation, or to gossip with a friend. It's not to go and lay out by the pool. You're deepest need right now is to be absolutely totally unconditionally and completely loved - not for something you could be, not for something you should be, but loved just as you are. And not some phoney baloney Hollywood-style love, or sinful sexual love. Until you and I experience God's love, we're going to keep being filled up with fear. There's this emptiness here that only God can fill up. And when you don't experience God's love you fill it with other things to take its place- like the things we threw into the fire. God loves you every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year. There's never been a time when God has stopped loving you, and there won't be anytime in the future that God will not love you, so long as you believe in Him.

Some of you will get defensive and say, "You don't know what I've done." Or "You don't know what I need!" Or "You don't know who I am." And you're right, I don't know those things.

All I know is that there's nothing you can do that can separate you from the love of God. God has never stopped loving you. That doesn't mean that He approves of everything that you have done. He doesn't approve of everything you've done. But He never stops loving you. 1 John 4:18 says "Where God's love is there is no fear because God's perfect love drives out fear." Man, that's awesome. He must have been thinking of me. The opposite of love is fear.

So how do you experience God's love? You have to know about God's love. Here's the problem. A lot of you in here, you already know about God's love. That's great, but not enough- you've got to accept God's love. You can't just know about it. You must accept it.

Then you need to express love to others. The reason you express love to others is because when you do express love to others, you get love back. Love is a lot stronger than fear. Why can a lady go into a burning building and come out with a baby? Is she afraid to go into the building? Of course. But she loves that kid more than she's afraid. So love is stronger than fear. When you express love to other people you experience God's love and it gets rid of fear. That's why I come to RISE every week- because the love of Christ permeates every corner of this place, and the love between us true and unbeatable.

Love is the answer to fear because the root of a lot of the fear that you and I have is self-centeredness. It's a preoccupation with ourselves – I don't want to get hurt, I don't want to be a failure, I don't want to look bad, I don't want to get messed up in this situation. Love, when you express it, it gets you to focus off yourself and onto others. So the more than I'm filled with love the less I'll be filled with fear.




A – ACTIVATE YOUR FAITH

Faith is more than just believing. A lot of people believe in God. Ninety percent of America believes in God. That doesn't mean anything. I believe Hitler existed, but I'm not a Nazi. I believe in Ronald McDonald but I'm not a Big Mac. I believe in God but what makes me a Christian is when I put my faith in God's way, not in the world's way. That's what I mean by activating your faith. It's like if you sit in a chair; you believe it can hold your weight. But a lot of us, that's what we do with God. I believe in God but I don't want to give my life to him. I just want to kinda kick the tires and call on God when I need him for something.

But when you sit down you've moved from belief to faith. When you activate your faith you expect the best in a situation. Fear expects the worse. Faith expects the best. Psalm 56 says, "When I'm afraid I put my trust in you." It doesn't say trust in a mathematical formula or in a friend or in yourself.

R – REVEAL YOUR FEARS TO OTHERS

What's hidden has the power to hurt. If I just hide my fears and keep them to myself they have the power to hurt me, to keep me in my prison, to keep me from experiencing life to its fullest - the way God wants it to be lived.

And if you're not sharing your fears you're hurting yourself. Because what's hidden has the power to hurt, what's spoken has power to heal and change.

The Bible says in James 5:16 "Confess your sins to each other…" and then run around school and gossip like crazy! No, it doesn't say that! It says "Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed." I can't explain it. I don't know what it is but God's people influence and help God's people. It's a truth of life. I know that some of my Christian friends when I spend time with them, when I share things with them they can help me take away my fears.

So here's the plan

F- Find truth
E- Experience God's love
A- Activate your faith
R- Reveal your fears to others.

God loves you so much that He wants to have a personal and meaningful relationship with you. Don't allow the incredible potential of the journey be sabotaged by living a life filled with fear. God wants you to be set free.




Let's Pray:

God, I know that I don't want to be the same person when I walk out of here that I was when I came in. I know that I won't be because I heard your word. Some of us in here are so fearful because we believed lies. And we believed that the world's way of living life and doing things is the right way and it's not. For some of us in here God, we need to experience your love. We believed in you but we've never accepted your love for us. We've never received that gift. We've never moved from belief to action. And for some of us in here we've never spoken up, shared anything with a friend. Thanks, God, for your love. That you love us whether we do anything at all or not. And that your love for us isn't based on what we look like. You love us because you created us and want a relationship with us. For that we're thankful. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.