A rundown of a sermon for Illuminate youth group from 04.06.10
Relationships – You and Your Priorities
Seek first the Kingdom of God
• God wants synergy in relationships
o Ecclesiastes 4:12, “A cord of three strands is not easily broken”
• Matthew 6:33. “But seek first His kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
How to start a relationship God’s way
1) Boy likes girl (or vice versa)
2) Boy explores friendship with girl.
a. As per my earlier sermon this term, that’s a REAL friendship, where you know something about the person and build a platonic relationship. Boys are prone to convincing themselves girls are good people just because they’re attracted to them.
b. Ask yourself:
i. Do I really value them as a friend, not just a face/body/status symbol?
ii. Are they Christian?
1. If not, at this stage you can start to invite them to church
2. It DOES NOT rule out a relationship but DOES make it harder – don’t date a non-Christian!
iii. Are we equally yoked?
1. A yoke is the wooden crossbar used to tie teams of oxen, cattle, or horses together for use in pulling farm implements or wagons.
a. If cattle are not evenly yoked, the farm implement will not be dragged correctly.
2. 2 Corinthians 6:14-15 says this:
a. 14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever?
b. Think of your life together as being that farm implement, going in two different directions at two different speeds, but still stuck together.
3) Boy prays to God about relationship with girl
a. If a clear: NO!
i. Boy dissolves all hopes for relationships
ii. Maintains platonic relationship with girl
iii. Backs away from CLOSE platonic relationship, but can still maintain some sort of friendship
1. WARNING: Can end in heartbreak if not followed.
b. If a clear: YES!
i. Boy talks to girl about potential relationship
1. WARNING: Can end in heartbreak anyway.
2. God sometimes asks us to do things we aren’t comfortable with in order to teach and grow us
ii. Moves on to #4
4) Girl prays to God about relationship with boy.
a. If a clear: NO!
i. Girl dissolves all hopes for relationships
ii. Discusses situation with boy
iii. Maintains platonic relationship with boy
iv. Backs well away from CLOSE platonic relationship
1. WARNING: Can end in heartbreak if not followed as boy and girl will be thinking two different things.
2. DON’T send mixed messages!
b. If a clear: YES!
i. Girl talks to boy about potential relationship
ii. Moves on to #5
5) Girl and boy pray together to God
a. Seeking guidance and His blessing
6) Girl and boy begin relationship with each other, with God!
7) Synergy! When a relationship begins this way God is with us and we together are greater than we could have been as two individuals
Things to remember.
• God is ALWAYS with us. Seek His opinions on every major decision in your life.
• Don’t think that every relationship has to end in marriage at your age. One of the reasons God tells people to save themselves for marriage is because He knows that we make mistakes when we’re young. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take every relationship seriously.
• Don’t get physically involved. Even kissing a girl/boy can have profound effects on both your lives
• Don’t start a relationship, and then get God’s blessing later. God needs to be FIRST in your lives.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
How do we believe in Jesus?
I was reading 1 Corinthians 2 today and was struck by the very first verse:
"When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God"
Paul solidifies his opinions on this in verses 4 and 5, "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power".
This verse is very similar to the podcast I was listening to today (Andy Stanley). He discussed becoming a Christian and how mature adults do not necessarily listen to wisdom concerning WHY to be a Christian. Even if we have specific problems that need overcoming, even if they are addressed specifically and well, even if the arguer concedes the point that often doesn't work. Why? Our choice to follow Jesus Christ must be based on faith in his deeds and life and on an interactive, loving relationship where both parties are honoured (and Jesus honoured us with his life before we were born). If we try and base it on a purely intellectual decision, it is not faith at all. It is a systematic series of checkpoints that fit the limitations and expectations we have placed on the Christian God. It means we've reasoned out why this seems sensible within our own minds. The whole relationship is governed by our world view and our sense of what are satisifiable reasons to follow Jesus. Do we respect him in this relationship? Most probably. Do we honour him? Absolutely not. To honour Jesus is to acknowledge his whole life, death and resurrection. It is to believe he performed miracles and have the faith in God's Holy Spirit that they can still be done today. It is to recognise that regardless of your personal perspective on whether the Bible has flaws or not, it is one way of several to communicate with God and it shares with us many perspectives on who Christ was, and is. Andy Stanley talks about loving and understanding the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and with all your mind. If we merely have the intellectual component, it is without heart, without love, without relationship. If we only have the spiritual component we are like noise in the wind, demanding great acts and behaving in an unintelligible manner to those who do not believe. We are claiming the fire of God on every person, pushing people to be slain in the spirit and talking in tongues for the joy of hearing ourselves talk in tongues. Everything is spiritual, there is a demon on every corner, every dream reflects an individually named spirit to these people. If we have a purely heart relationship, we love and love and love and get burned out. When we are questioned on our beliefs, we may falter and fall because our faith is not built on a rock but JUST on a relationship. Human relationships, likewise, cannot just be built on "love" because cold reality gets in the way. In my experience, men are more likely to fall prey to intellectual Christianity, women to heart/emotional Christianity.
We must own our relationship with God and invest in it as we would with a spouse. We must spend time with them even when it doesn't suit us, love at all costs, believe that they can be capable of ANYTHING. Each element of God's nature - love, wisdom and spirit - is essential for us to have anything remotely resembling an understanding of His character and to get near having a deep, strong, powerful relationship with our Creator and Saviour.
"When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God"
Paul solidifies his opinions on this in verses 4 and 5, "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power".
This verse is very similar to the podcast I was listening to today (Andy Stanley). He discussed becoming a Christian and how mature adults do not necessarily listen to wisdom concerning WHY to be a Christian. Even if we have specific problems that need overcoming, even if they are addressed specifically and well, even if the arguer concedes the point that often doesn't work. Why? Our choice to follow Jesus Christ must be based on faith in his deeds and life and on an interactive, loving relationship where both parties are honoured (and Jesus honoured us with his life before we were born). If we try and base it on a purely intellectual decision, it is not faith at all. It is a systematic series of checkpoints that fit the limitations and expectations we have placed on the Christian God. It means we've reasoned out why this seems sensible within our own minds. The whole relationship is governed by our world view and our sense of what are satisifiable reasons to follow Jesus. Do we respect him in this relationship? Most probably. Do we honour him? Absolutely not. To honour Jesus is to acknowledge his whole life, death and resurrection. It is to believe he performed miracles and have the faith in God's Holy Spirit that they can still be done today. It is to recognise that regardless of your personal perspective on whether the Bible has flaws or not, it is one way of several to communicate with God and it shares with us many perspectives on who Christ was, and is. Andy Stanley talks about loving and understanding the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and with all your mind. If we merely have the intellectual component, it is without heart, without love, without relationship. If we only have the spiritual component we are like noise in the wind, demanding great acts and behaving in an unintelligible manner to those who do not believe. We are claiming the fire of God on every person, pushing people to be slain in the spirit and talking in tongues for the joy of hearing ourselves talk in tongues. Everything is spiritual, there is a demon on every corner, every dream reflects an individually named spirit to these people. If we have a purely heart relationship, we love and love and love and get burned out. When we are questioned on our beliefs, we may falter and fall because our faith is not built on a rock but JUST on a relationship. Human relationships, likewise, cannot just be built on "love" because cold reality gets in the way. In my experience, men are more likely to fall prey to intellectual Christianity, women to heart/emotional Christianity.
We must own our relationship with God and invest in it as we would with a spouse. We must spend time with them even when it doesn't suit us, love at all costs, believe that they can be capable of ANYTHING. Each element of God's nature - love, wisdom and spirit - is essential for us to have anything remotely resembling an understanding of His character and to get near having a deep, strong, powerful relationship with our Creator and Saviour.
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