The Savage Life (Part 3 )

The Savage Life Part 3

Not Letting Your Limitations LIMIT YouEphesians 3:1-13

Big Idea: In the SAVAGE life, we can’t lose heart

Review

Today, we are continuing our series called “The Savage Life” in which we have formulated two different categories, two different lives a person can live out spiritually:

1) the NORMAL life

and

2) the SAVAGE life.

The NORMAL life is a life made up of “living for the next adrenaline rush.” Living for the next adrenaline rush can look different in your school life, relational life, family life, sport or hobby life, with friends, etc., but to live “for the next adrenaline rush” is pretty addicting and totally NORMAL. The “savage life” is defined as “living your life in a way that few have the guts to live.” To this point, we’ve discovered the SAVAGE life is characterized by hope, value and power (Week 1).

Not only that, but the SAVAGE life also banks on grace

(Week 2)!

My prayer is that all of us would choose the SAVAGE life!

Intro

Many of us may feel inspired about living out this SAVAGE life as we’re here meeting together, but then we go out into the “real world” and are bombarded by NORMAL all over again. For example, maybe this past week you felt compelled to choose the SAVAGE life over the NORMAL life at school. However, by the time you walked off the bus or were halfway through your first class, your inspiration was fading. Maybe you began to realize all the things in your life that would need to change in order for you to live out a truly SAVAGE life. Maybe you began to feel discouraged, uninspired and very NORMAL—once again—because you were reminded of all the limitations facing you.

Today I’m speaking on a very difficult subject.

I’m thankful for the opportunity to help you and to help you help others.

The Bible

What I appreciate about the Bible is its honesty.

Like our lives the Bible doesn't deal with suffering in just one chapter of one book. It’s woven through many chapters in all the books.

And as we continue through Ephesians we’re going to learn about suffering, affliction, and hardship.

2 things true of all of us

We will cause other people to be afflicted

Other people will cause us to be afflicted

Paul kills christians

Gets saved

Suffers and ultimately dies for Christ

Lament fills ⅓ of psalms

Christian emo poems

All the ot prophets have laments in them

The Bible is very honest about suffering being real coming to God’s people

This in contrast with modern teaching today which states if you love jesus you will never suffer

Jesus suffered the most

The good news is Jesus will bring all suffering to an end,

but we live in a world filled with suffering

Our God has experienced it and walks through it with us

Transition: It helps when we suffer to know why we’re suffering

14 kinds of suffering

How are you afflicted?

What category of suffering are others you know facing?

What can you learn?

How can you help?

It’s helpful when we suffer to know which kind we’re enduring

Adamic

Broken world

Death

Sickness

General feeling the world isn't how it should be

Punishment

Repaid for sin

For non christians

Hell

Consequential

Reap what you sow

Demonic

Oppression

Victim

Someone sins against you

You didn't do anything wrong

Collective

Part of a people who are suffering

War

Plague

Genocide

National tragedy

Disciplinary

God allows

Not to punish, but to mature you

Vicarious

Hate towards christians

Popular opinion

We fight not against flesh and blood

Don't fight

Empathetic

We hurt because someone we love hurts

Testimonial

Opportunity to proclaim Jesus

Bigger platform

Paul to Rome

Providential

Hardship exemplifies

People saved because of it

Proventitive

God allows a little pain to warn against bigger potential pain

Side hurts save from appendicitis

Mysterious

We don't know why

We see in part

Apocalyptic

Intense hardship gets worse leading to the end

Categories help us know how to help

You don't tell a victim to repent

Job’s friends

Understand your suffering to better endure

When we suffer we ask “Why? Why? Why?”

Let's begin to ask a different question

“Who?”

Who is Jesus?

Who are you in Christ?

Your affliction doesn't establish your identity,

But your identity will get you through your affliction

I dont have the answers to all the why questions, but Jesus does and when you see Him, He’ll straighten it all out

3 things

Let's not diminish your affliction

Let's not compare it to others

Let's take what you’re dealing with and see what God has to say through Paul

And let's see what others are dealing with and how you might help comfort them

Read passage

We are afflicted for others Good (Verses 1-6)

One of the first things that happens when we suffer is our gaze goes inward and we begin to forget about others

We forget others are hurting too

Yes it's a hard season for me, but it's also a hard season for us

Paul while in prison starts at verse 1 by talking about others

Paul is saying “I’m suffering for Jesus and others

Gentiles: prior to salvation Paul hated them

He meets Jesus and realizes it’s not about race, but Jesus

He finds a new identity in Christ

Meaning of His life is to bring glory to God through spreading the word about Jesus

He suffers so more people can hear about Jesus

Suffering was his opportunity to tell others about jesus

Controversy = influence

Affliction = serve other people

How can you use your affliction to help others grow in Jesus?

If you’re suffering you have a great credibility

Your suffering is going to cost you a lot

Time

Energy

Health

Money

Relationships

Consume a lot of your life

So let's not waste them

Let's invest them in people

I want your suffering to be meaningful, powerful and purposeful

Since you've paid such a steep price for it I want you to make a great investment with it

That's what Paul is doing

He’s using his circumstances to write a book of the Bible

Using the opportunity for others good

2000 years later its still proving helpful to us

He’s still serving us

He uses the Holy Spirit to have a ministry of encouragement in the midst of suffering

My heroes - our leaders

Open their lives to us

Serve us

Everything they've learned and experienced they want to deposit in someone else

Something I’ve found is when someone goes through hardship and grows and learns from it and they begin to slowly open up about it people swarm to them because they trust them

The ministry of suffering

How can your suffering be the beginning of your ministry?

I'm not talking about not dealing with your own pain and just making up principles for others

I’m talking about going through the deep difficulty of your trials, having questions, being frustrated, shedding tears, freaking out, and then sharing whatever you’ve been learning out of an honest place

When Paul refers to the gospel that's what he's talking about the good news

God’s example

Here's what's amazing our God has chosen to enter in and experience pain, rejection, poverty and death

And the good news is He has been where we are and through where we are going.

He has conquered death and sin and hell and the wrath of God

And He helps others partly by sending them to us that we might be a help to them

Like earlier when we grew by getting the same help from others

And that's why the most powerful ministries are often birthed out of the deepest pain

Afflicted for your growth (Verses 7-9)

You can help others but also grow yourself

Paul while he suffers is ministering, but also maturing

“I minister by God’s grace”

Humility

“Everything I do is by the working of God’s power”

“Least of all the saints”

Recognizes still in process

He need the grace of God like everyone else

Humility

Self awareness

Not comparing himself to others

Comparing Himself to Christ

Sees himself in Christ

The reason we mature isn't just so we can feel mature, but so others can feel and see and come to know Jesus

To bring light to the plan of God

I am suffering

I am growing

And that's amazing because now I can tell more people about Jesus

God can use this season

To help make you more like Jesus

If one of your goals is to be more like Jesus then this doesn't have to just be a difficult season

Can also be a great season

Not making light of your pain, but God can use it to make you more like Him

Again if you're going to through it, don't waste it

Suffering leads to maturity

How can you use your affliction to help you grow?

How can it help you appreciate Jesus more?

Not only was Christ afflicted for us, but Christ was afflicted by us

When he died on the cross he died for our sins

That means we’re responsible

We hurt Him

Abused Him

Betrayed Him

Murdered Him

And He

Loves us

Forgives us

and rises to embrace us

Appreciating pain and suffering

“Oh it was hard, but I wouldn't trade it for anything”

“I cherish what I’ve gone through because of what I learned and who i became”

Weirdos

This beats bitterness

Wasting your suffering

If we allow it God can change the hardest parts of our lives into the sweetest parts

To use the the most painful part of our story to be the most encouraging to someone else

Afflicted for God’s glory (verses 10-13)

God can use the worst things to do wonderful things

“So i ask you not to lose heart”

Not asking you not to grieve

Not asking you not to be sad

Not asking you not to talk about it

He's asking us to not lose heart

I see it in people’s eyes all the time

They give up

They don't fight anymore

There's something worse than being afflicted and that's being afflicted and losing heart

The number one category in prescription pill in the US is anti depressant

A lot of will also self medicate

Food

Entertainment

Drugs

Alcohol

Relationships

Shopping

Adrenaline highs

A lot of our lives are spent trying to live after we’ve lost heart

We often then start looking for motivational speakers

We have those in Christianity

Say same things over and over

Same things as other motivational speakers

But often add verse to the end that are out of context

Screaming confidently and loudly

There goal to simply to get a big group together and have a pep assembly

To pump people full of good feelings

But here we’re not going to pretend like everything okay

Going around answering “fine” when anyone asks how you are

I mean that's what everyone does right?

Even if you've had the worst week and your life is in shambles

It's okay to admit you're having a tough time

So that we can know, serve and love one another

So we can help one another not lose heart

Anyone here?

Lost heart?

Losing heart?

Giving up?

Giving in?

“So I ask you?”

So apparently there's a decision that you and I have to make

Ephesus Church

Losing heart over Paul

Roman prison

Way worse than ours

It’s okay to admit you’re suffering

Paul does

But it’s a glory

You can suffer for

The good of others

Your own growth

The glory of God

Paul suffers for God

We Learn a lot about god through the suffering of Paul

We see a reflection of Jesus in Paul's suffering

Not complaining, but rejoicing

Loving enemies

Worshiping despite of circumstances

Being honest, but not losing heart

Paul's is reflecting a little Jesus

That's what it mean to be in Christ

And to have Christ in you

His identity is secure

Not his

Freedom

Health

Future

Reputation

But His identity is

Jesus loves me

I love Him

I’m suffering because He loves me and I love Him

That’s glory

A great honor it is to suffer for the name of jesus

What a great honor it is that through the grace of God we can suffer like Jesus so others meet Jesus, we grow and God is glorified

As we suffer we need to remember many are watching

Expand on the idea

This is an enormous opportunity to glorify God

Thanks to social media we now have more people watching than any other time in history

Who's watching?

Friends

Family

Coworkers

Boyfriend or girlfriend

Enemies

Critics

God

Loves you

Grieves with you

Been where you are

Is in the place you’re going

Closing

I encourage you to be honest

With

God

Others

Talking about it helps

You love people more when you know them more

No need to be self sufficient

Don't need to be any holier than Paul

Sometimes comfort is better than an answer

God doesn't always provide an answer

But He does provide His presence

We may not have answers

But we can be there for someone

If you're not a christian I pray you bring your sin and suffering to Jesus

I want you to be forgiven and comforted by Him

If you are a christian I invite you to be honest with Jesus and people you trust,

To say things like Paul did

My hope for you is the same as Paul's

“I ask that you don't lose heart”

And as we suffer lets ask these questions

How can this be used for others good?

How can i grow?

How can this be used for God’s glory?

I believe that's the way we prevent losing hope

(Pray)