Saturday, August 19, 2017

Sermon Notes 8-20-2017

Part 2 (What do you really want)
Don’t Be Deceived!!

INTRODUCTION
We’ll never get what we really want until we discover what is most valuable. But choosing what’s valuable doesn’t come naturally. We’ve all had the experience of getting what we naturally want, only to discover it’s not what is most valuable—it’s not what we ultimately want. But how do we avoid being deceived by our short-term desires?
So, what do you want?
The goal
The goal of this series is not just for believers to align with the wants that God has for you, but also for the un-believers to hopefully wrestle with some questions as to what you truly want in your life and for your life.

So let’s get to it, the big questions of the day is: What do you want?
·      The answer is different for everyone
·      The older you get there seems to be less “what”
·      When your younger there is more “what”
·      In different seasons of life the “what” changes
·      But one things is for sure there we always want something!

Recap
·      One thing is for sure, we want our way!
·      And we want to do what we want to do!
o   What we really want is perpetual pleasure!
·      And you may not know what you want, but you know you want it now!
o   Regret always starts with getting something we want
o   This wanting thing, is a tricky thing!!
o   Sometimes getting or way, we lose our way

Sometimes we will do whatever we can to get what we want!
·      You say I wouldn’t kill for anything, really??
o   We kill friendships
o   We kill work deals
o   We kill families
o   We kill marriages
o   We destroy the things that mean the most to us for what we want
·      To get what we want!

Here is the problem.
Most of don’t know what we really want, because we are so distracted by what we want, what we desire right now!

The skinny of it all

What we really what we rarely explore!
 “What we really want lurks in a realm that we rarely explore” Andy Stanley

The good news!
·      God, your father, wants more for you
·      He doesn’t want more from you
·      He wants more for you!
·      And lurking in the shadows is what you ultimately want
o   What you value
o   What is really important!
·      So, for the next few weeks we are going to help you find what you really value!!


So, maybe the bigger question is,
·      What kind of person do you want to be?
·      What kind of legacy do you want to leave?
o   From your job
o   From you school
o   From your marriage
o   As a parent?
·      Lurking behind every want, is a bigger question.
o   You want to be rich, why?
o   You want to be successfully, why?
o   What lurks in the background?

We will never get what we really want, until we discover what we really value!
·      Until you start to figure out what you really value
·      Until you take the time to ponder this question
·      You will go through life searching for something and never find it
·      No one can figure it out for you
·      Only you can

This is true weather you believe or not, this is true for everyone!
·      But as Christians we believe that our father in heaven wants more FOR us


Know this, choosing what’s valuable is not natural!
·      To find out what we value, we have to get past what’s natural
·      Inside us all is a conflict between what’s natural and what we value
·      And this is not an easy battle to win!

 So how do we win the battle? Paul tells us in romans!

The problem!
Romans 7:15 (NIV)
15I do not understand what I do.
·      This could be our life verse!
·      We can all relate to this
·      We can all tell a story that’s starts like this!
o   Why did I do that
o   You know the, “hey hold my beer moment”!
·      Just think about it. Why do you do what you know you don’t want to do?
o   This is the problem; your human nature is to do what you want to do right now!
o   Not think it through!

Paul takes it one step further!
Romans 7:15 (NIV)
15I do not understand what I do. For what I (really) want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.
·      Some of us are here right now!
·      We don’t do what we know we want to do
·      And we get to where we hate what we do
·      And that’s is about a half inch form hating ourselves
·      And some of you look in the mirror and don’t even like who you see anymore!
·      For all of us this is a everyday struggle, some times a minute by minute struggle!


We know what’s right and what’s wrong!
Romans 7:16 (NLT)
16But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good.
·      We know what’s right
·      We know the law
·      We know how we want people to treat us
·      We know how we think people should act
·      We know we shouldn’t do certain things
o   Eat unhealthy
o   Drink too much
o   We should save more money
·      But we just don’t

Can’t you relate?
Romans 7:18–19 (NIV)
18For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.
19For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.
·      Can’t we all relate to this
·      We want to do it
·      We try to do it
·      But we just can’t do it!

Why, you ask?
What we naturally want is in conflict with what we ultimately want!
·      What we want right now
·      What we think we can’t live with out
·      Gets in the way of what we value and ultimately want!
  
Think about this, nature is dangerous!
·      Look around you
o   Nature is only beautiful from a distance
o   There is no fairness in nature
o   Its survival of the fittest
o   Its kill or be killed
·      And for us it’s no different
o   Cheating
o   Lying
o   Racism
o   Adultery
o   Me first
o   Revenge
·      That’s natural for us
·      And it will undermine all we value and truly want
Galatians 5:19–21 (NLT)
19When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,
20idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,
21envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
·      He is saying we are broken
·      All of this is in you and in me!
·      We are products of a sinful world, full of sinful desires
·      And our natural state, what we naturally want
·      Is ultimately bad for us!
·      No matter how good you think you are
·      We all battle with this daily!

What’s dragging you away?
James 1:14–16 (NIV)
14but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed.
15Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
16Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.
·      Think about that for a minute
·      We don’t ever think we are dragged away from anything
·      What about
o   When we get dragged away by old habits
o   When an opportunity comes along and drags us away
o   What about relationships that drag us away
·      Sometimes we are dragged away from the natural, and its keeps from getting what we really want!
Sin leads to death!
·      When we get dragged away it leads to sin and sin leads to death
o   Death of a marriage
o   Death of a friendship
o   Death of future opportunities
o   Death of a legacy
o   Death morals
o   And ultimately death of what we really value and want!

Don’t be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters.
So, the first lesson to getting what you REALLY want, Don’t be deceived!
·      Don’t let the natural get in the way of the ultimate
·      Don’t let the immediate get in the way of your future
o   Husbands don’t be deceived
o   Wife’s don’t be deceived
o   Kids don’t be deceived
o   Parents do be deceived
·      Sin will come in and try and drag you away
o   Drag you away from opportunities
o   Drag you away from relationships
o   Drag you down financially
o   And ultimately drag you away from what you really want!
o   So don’t be DECEIVED!

Following Jesus will make your life better, make you better at life, and will constantly point you toward what you ultimately want and help in the battle for the natural!

Life is hard enough, without you constantly chasing the natural and never truly getting what you truly value and ultimately want!



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