Good morning, CHURCH!

(Church joke of the day)

I heard this really interesting story about this Sunday school class that had an oral quiz.

The teacher had given the students different words to go home and study in the Bible and be prepared to answer the questions on the spot.

The kids were prepared and had been doing a wonderful job of answering the questions.

Finally, the teacher got down to the last student and the last question.

It was the Pastor’s son.

She asked him what a lie was.

He smiled because he was confident, he knew the answer.

He said, “This question has a two-part answer.”

“The first part is, (it’s an abomination to God,)” he replied.

“And what’s the second part” she asked?

“It is an ever-present help in times of trouble!”

Are you ready to be equipped today?

Let me see your Bibles.

Let’s go to the book of Romans 5:3-5 NLT for this week’s wisdom Vaccination.

Ask your neighbor if they came to be equipped today?

Ask your other neighbor did you come to grow in God today?

This Week’s Wisdom Vaccination

Romans 5:3-5 NLT

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

This is the principle of resistance.

When we lift weights, we resist the weights by exerting our strength against it.

Our resistance to the heavy weight causes us to grow stronger.

And it is the same way with God.

God desires each and every one of us to grow.

-to grow in faith

-to grow in righteousness

-to grow in love

-to grow in joy

-to grow in hope

-to grow in patience

-to grow in perseverance

-to grow in godliness

And how are we going to do that?

-When doubt tries to weigh you down you resist it with faith.

-When you don’t feel worthy of God’s blessing you resist with righteousness.

-When someone you come in contact with is unlovable you resist by loving them all the more.

-When your circumstances make you feel sad you resist your feelings by letting the joy of the Lord be your strength.

-When you get anxious you resist by being patient and persevering.

-When the world is trying to draw you in you resist by growing in godliness.

Let’s get into today’s message.

These Dang Emotions (wk3)

In this series we’re covering some signs of Emotionally Immature People

How many of you are seeing yourselves so far in the first couple of weeks.

We discovered in week 1 that emotionally immature people can’t handle stress very well and it does long-term damage to the physical body and long-term damage to relationships.

The E.I. can’t handle stress.

We discovered in week 2 that emotionally immature people either use gaslighting or fall prey to gaslighting.

The E.I. use gaslighting.

Today let’s start with:

Point #1

Emotionally Immature People are selfish.

Philippians 2:3-4 NLT

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

People who are viewed as selfish have this one thing in common.

They put their needs before the needs of others.

And they don't seem to care much for anyone's feelings but their own.

Our selfishness can mean we hurt others as we ruthlessly strive to satisfy our own needs.

I sometimes see this come to fruition in marriages when they have passionate disagreements.

(They can be two people who care deeply about each other but in a moment of caring deeply about their own opinion or feelings they say things that are hurtful or in a hurtful tone to one another.)

As kids we learn that when someone says something hurtful to us everyone will cheer for you if you say something more hurtful back to them.

As adults if we feel hurt by a statement, we revert back to our childlike behaviors by saying something to hurt them.

This childlike emotional response causes us to fire back at our friends or family even into the latter years of our lives.

I think I need to stress to you how important this is.

I know at FFM you’re used to me flooding you with Bible passages and insights to the scriptures.

But without this piece of the pie this is what we are producing.

Super knowledgeable Bible scholars who go home and do all the things they don’t want to do but they can’t stop from doing.

Romans 7:15-19 NLT

I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate.

16 But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. 17 So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

18 And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. 19 I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway.

Now if this doesn’t sum up our actions on a sometimes day to day basis.

Sin is often an emotional response to our old nature, or an internal desire driven by our old nature.

If we don’t get our desires and our emotions under the direction of our loving Father, we will forever be Bible scholars who can’t control the flesh.

Back to selfishness.

Selfishness or self-centeredness can damage our reputation.

It can lead to loneliness because others won’t want to be around us.

If you have a selfish person in your life, you may feel overwhelmed or frustrated having to constantly deal with them.

It could make you feel like no matter what you say or do, this person

continues to act in their own interests which ends up hurting you (either intentionally or unintentionally).

The answer to selfishness was given in the passage I read earlier.

Look at:

Philippians 2:4 NLT

Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

Point #2

Emotionally Immature People don’t talk about their feelings.

Having deep conversations about their emotions makes an emotionally immature person uncomfortable.

-They would rather tell a joke to change the mood than to get real with how they might feel.

-They may be uncomfortable to open up about the way they feel because it might cause them to cry in front of others.

-They see expressing feelings and emotions as a sign of weakness.

-They may have been told as a young boy that feelings are for girls.

-Or as a young girls may have been told to toughen up.

-They may feel that if someone knows how they truly feel, they will think of them as being weak or soft.

This perception often prevents them from getting the help they need.

Proverbs 12:25 NKJV

Anxiety in the heart of man causes depression, But a good word makes it glad.

Holding back your emotions only weighs you down.

And it causes you to miss out on the opportunity for someone to give you and encouraging or supportive word.

If you’re watching online or here in the building, I have a very important question to ask you.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you right now?