Write Your Own Headlines

Col 3:1-3

welcome

stand read passage

Colossians 3:1–3 ESV

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

read headlines

Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead

If Strike Isn’t Settled Quickly, It May Last Awhile

Miners Refuse to Work after Death

Cold Wave Linked to Temperatures

Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half

talk on this and news headlines

2020 Covid-19

it could get very negative, our perspective on things can become clouded…

preach on this…= headlines in the news are negative and can impact our lives…

today I want to help us learn how to write our own headlines

You can’t always change your circumstances. But you can change your perspective.

See God’s people do this thru/out Bible. Couple examples.

Moses sent some men to survey land of Canaan.

Soil. Conditions. See who lives there—Few/Many—Strong?

Same situation—2 Different Headlines—

sent out 12 - 10 of the men—The people are giants and…

Numbers 13:32 ESV

So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land, through which we have gone to spy it out, is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height.

…They said, “The land we explored devours those living in it ...”

Danger Lurks—The Land Devours the Living

10 men came back with that report 2 came back with a positive one…

Same situation—2 Different Headlines—Positive—Josh/Caleb

God is With Us

Land of Milk and Honey Rich With Blessings for All

now i want to share with you another one and To me, perhaps the most emotional one is the apostle Paul.

And if you know his story, he was gloriously transformed by the grace of Jesus,

from a Christian hater, to a Christ proclaimer.

And he just knew if he could ever get to Rome to preach the gospel, this would be the most strategic city, that if he could transform these leaders, the gospel could spread all over the world.

Roman gov arrested—Beat—Took forcefully Rome

Locked up—Chained guards—Consider beheading him.

Potential Headlines

“Apostle Paul Awaits Likely Execution Christianity is Doomed”

“Apostle Paul Wrongly Imprisoned

Sues Roman Government for Tens of Millions”

“Opinion—7 Reasons Why Xianity Will Die by End of 1st C”

“Podcast—The Rise & Fall of Apostle Paul”

The good news is this, that if you're a follower of Christ, your life is not defined by somebody else's headline.

We don’t set our minds—Earthly things—But on things above!

We're not conformed to the patterns of this world, but we're being transformed by the renewing of our minds,

so we can test and approve what the will of God is for our life, his good, his pleasing, and his perfect will.

talk about neurons and positive vs negative thinking = what we think over and over agin makes it easier for us to go back to…

I want to share with you an incredible tool that a good counselor will use, but I believe that God will use, and in an even more powerful way.

Cognitive reframing? Cognitive reframing is simply shifting your mindset to look at a situation or a relationship from a positive perspective.

It's a shift in your mindset. It's not thinking on what's impure, but thinking on what is pure.

It's not looking for what's wrong, but it's looking for what's right. It's not being upset about what you don't have, but it's being thankful for what you do have,

because you may not be able to change what's happening to you, but you can change your perspective.

is it that simple though?? with the holy spirit you bet it is…

This is what Paul does. Doesn’t buy into negative news! Horrible situation awaiting potential execution—Perspective.

phil 1.12-14

Philippians 1:12–14 ESV

I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.

preach on this…

Paul applied with the help of the holy spirit and only because of the holy spirit cognitive reframing, he shifted his mind set, didnt look at the situation from a negative stand point he wrote his own headlines

“Roman Plan Backfires

Apostle Paul Preaches to a Captive Audience”

Romans thought Paul was their prisoner!

He thought they were his!

You Can Write Your Own Headlines

Can’t control circumstances—Can control perspective.

I heard a very powerful story about a man who felt like he was at the end. I wonder if I'm talking to anyone today, who you feel like you don't have any hope at all?

And that's where this guy was when he picked up his phone, texted his pastor and said, "I'm about to give up. Could you meet with me, because I need some help."

And the guy sat down with his pastor, and his pastor had a good relationship with this man.

And the man said, "My marriage is falling apart, and I don't know what to do about it. And my finances are a wreck. I don't know if we're gonna be able to keep our home. We might lose it. And in all that I'm going through, I'm starting to doubt God. I'm losing my faith, I don't know how to talk to God. I haven't seen God, I'm in big trouble.

My marriage is in trouble. My finances are in trouble, and I'm losing my faith."

And the pastor looked on at his good friend, and he said, "So, let me see if I understand this, 'cause it sounds like you're going through a lot."

He said, "So, your wife divorced you, and she's not speaking to you?" The guys said, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, we're still married, but we're really struggling."

The pastor said, "Oh, okay," so he wrote that down. And then he said,

"So, if I'm hearing you right, you've lost your job, and you're completely unable to work?" The guy said, "No, no, no, I'm still employed. I'm able to work, but things are just really, really tight right now." And the pastor said, "Oh, okay," and so he wrote that down.

And then he said, "And so you've lost all your faith in God? You don't believe there is a God, there's no sense of God. You don't think God is real?" The guy said, "No, no, no, I still believe in God, I just haven't sensed him in a long time."

And the pastor looked on, and he smiled, and he said, "Because we're good friends, I hope you see what I'm doing. And I don't wanna belittle the challenges that you're facing, because you have some real challenges.

But from where I'm sitting, I see some real opportunities. I see a marriage that still has potential. And I see a man who still has a job. And I see a Christian who still has a God."

And so you can buy into the devil's headlines, which is there's no hope for you, and you'll never get through this, and you'll never heal, and you'll never have a good relationship, and you'll always be alone, and you'll always struggle financially, and you'll never be close to God.

Or, you can change your perspective and say, "My God is always with me. My God is always for me. Even though I don't like what I see, I know my God is working in me."

Because since you've been raised with Christ, what you do is you set your mind on things above, not things below.

We think on things that are excellent, and pure, and praiseworthy before God. And what we're gonna do is we're gonna let God help write your headlines.

preach!!

close with this scripture here today

2 Corinthians 4:8–9 ESV

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 ESV

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

preach on this and holy spirit please help me…

So what are you facing? Set your mind on things above. Fix your eyes on what is unseen.

And no matter what you're facing, with the power of God, with the love of God, and the presence of God, though, you may not be able to change your circumstances, you can change your perspective.

And this is a word for somebody, I don't know who, but let God deposit it into your heart, and let him change your faith. Let him change your perspective, and it could change your life.

lets pray

HOLY SPIRIT TAKE OVER!!!