October/02/ 2016
Mad at My Sister
The Expectation Gap: When what I expect doesn't match up with what I experience, the GAP is filled with frustration.
Luke 10:38 “As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. 40 But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” 41 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
4 things that help us to close the expectation gap.
- Speak up.
I cannot expect what I do not express.
2. Lighten up.
I should never expect others to express themselves in the same way as me. 3. Check up.
Luke 10:41 “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only
one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”
Galatians 6:4-5 MSG "
Make a careful exploration of who you are and
the work you have been given, and then sink yourself into that. Don’t be impressed with yourself. Don’t compare yourself with others. Each of you must take responsibility for doing the creative best you can
with your own life."
4. Look up.
Proverbs 18:24 (ESV) “A man of many companions may come to ruin, but
there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.”
September/25/ 2016
MAD at My Brother
Matthew 24:10-13 (NKJV) “And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.
Steven Furtick:
The enemies agenda is destruction
The enemies strategy is division
The enemies tactic is offense
3 people in the Bible who were MAD at their brother.
1. The Prodigal son and the Older brother: Pride
Luke 15:28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
Proverbs 13:10 “pride leads to arguments.”
2. Cain and Able: Jealousy
JEALOUSY = resenting God’s goodness in other’s lives while ignoring God’s goodness in my own life.
James 3:15-16 “For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. 16 For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind.”
3. Jacob and Esau: Hurt
Psalms 55:12-13 “If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it; if a foe were rising against me, I could hide. 13 But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend…”
3 Choices to make if you are MAD at your brother.
1. Choose celebration over competition
Romans 12:15 “Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn”
I Samuel 23:17 Jonathan said.. “Don’t be afraid my father Saul will not lay a hand on you. You will be king over Israel, and I will be second to you”
You can’t rejoice with someone and be jealous of someone at the same time.
2. Choose trust over suspicion:
The more times we are hurt the more we tend to see people as potential for pain.
I Corinthains 13:7 ISV “love… bears up under everything; believes the best in all; there is no limit to her hope, and never will she fall.
3. Choose God’s faithfulness over fairness
I Corinthians 6:6-8 MSG “I say this as bluntly as I can to wake you up to the stupidity of what you’re doing. Is it possible that there isn’t one levelheaded person among you who can make fair decisions when disagreements and disputes come up? I don’t believe it. And here you are taking each other to court before people who don’t even believe in God! How can they render justice if they don’t believe in the God of justice? 7-8 These court cases are an ugly blot on your community. Wouldn’t it be far better to just take it, to let yourselves be wronged and forget it? All you’re doing is providing fuel for more wrong, more injustice, bringing more hurt to the people of your own spiritual family.”
September/18/ 2016
MAD
Part 1
MAD at the World
Matthew 24:10-13 (NKJV) “And then
many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”
- How do I know if I’ve gone MAD?
- Overly critical
Matthew 7:3-4 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?”
B. Constantly placing blame
C. Victim Mentality
D. Write off entire groups of people
2. What causes us to be MAD at the world?
A. Hurts
Matthew 24:10 “And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another”
B. Unmet expectations
C. Guilt
3. How do we stop the MADness?
One word that changes everything…
SURRENDER
Philippians 2:6 “Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”
Matthew 10:39 “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.”
